Kamen Rider Zero
by E.T Novem
Summary: Kureno Hiro was a man with a mysterious and bleak past. When the Organization filled with agents known as 'Arcana' came to get him, Kureno Hiro have to don the PentaDriver belt to retaliate as Kamen Rider Zero. As he faces more Arcana Agents along the way, Hiro's past will be slowly revealed along with his purpose and mission in mind. Let's Read his fate!
1. Reading 1

**Disclaimer:**

**I do not own the Kamen Rider Franchise. Cameo Riders and characters from the main show that appears in this series belong to Toei. I do, however, own the creative FanFic work of 'Kamen Rider Zero', along with the original rider designs and story plot. **

* * *

**Kamen Rider Zero**

**Reading 1: The Fool**

The surrounding feels so surreal. My vision distorts, my footing unstable and weak. A pile of wasteland under the stretch of dark skies. Fire dances wildly across the ruins and ground. No wind can be felt in this world of void. The smell of charred land disgusts me. Yes, I remember this place...I used to stay here a long time ago. As my eyes drifts towards the horizon, a towering, daunting hill stands prominently among the rest. At the foot of the hill of skulls stands an erected tower. The clouds swirl above it as though attracted to the huge entity.

That was the place I used to call 'home'.

Why am I here? This place is but a forgotten piece of memory, something that I have always wanted to bury away. But it seems that the more I keep it in, the more determined it was to haunt me.

I lift my hand and trail my fingers to the ancient stone worn around my neck. Two triangles lay on top of each other in an opposite manner; a pentacle with ancient scriptures. I remembered stealing this before I ran away. An ancient device that should never fall in the wrong hands. But at the same time, it is the only thing that can help me to achieve my goal...

Just as my hand clasps itself over the ancient stone, I hear the cries of a feminine voice not far away. This familiar voice...I turn to look, confirming with the voice in my head.

Her face was shadowed away but I can never mistake that physique; tall and slender with snow-white skin. The once white garb that covers her, now tattered and worn, gray with dirt and regrets. She was seating at the entrance of the tower, her hands reaching out for me, crying non-stop.

It's her, the woman that I have tried so hard to forget. The voice grew louder, overpowering me as I fall onto my knees, desperately covering my ears to drown out the cry.

"Stop, stop, stop, stop, stop!" I shouted, tears flowing down my cheeks. I don't want to hear them anymore! My heart feels heavy with regret, guilt and sin. It has always been like this from the start. Taking in a deep breath, I collected my thoughts and slowly push myself up.

"Just wait a little longer...I will set things right, okay?" I said, wiping the tears away from my eyes. Although the face of the lady was covered, I swear that she is smiling as though relieved.

And slowly, the voice begins to die down, softer and softer, until there is nothing left.

* * *

I open my eyes, only to shut them tight from the penetrating glare of the sun. Laying still in my position for a few more minutes, I move my arms to wipe the sleep off my face. The curtain flaps lightly along the direction of the wind. The chirping from the birds nearby echoes in the empty room of mine. Beneath the nature's morning call, the clock ticks slowly as another minute is wasted.

All that images, the hill, the surrounding, and her...it was all a dream after all. Pushing myself up, I stare at my feet and the parque floor beneath. Another day has passed along with a sleepless night. After stretching my body to loosen them up, I pull off my shirt and lay it on the chair beside my bed and head into the shower room.

'Shhahhh!'

I turn the handle to its limit as the water crashes down onto my body. I lift my face up against the water in the hopes to wash away the fatigue. After tightening the knob and the water ceased, I grab the towel hanging on the bar beside me and wipe my body dry. My other hand reach to open the mirror cabinet above the sink to pull out my toothbrush and paste. As I close it back, I was greeted with the reflection of a man with disheveled hazel hair and a circular flat piece of stone hanging around his neck. His brown, tired eyes was locked into mine as he opens his mouth to brush his teeth.

That man is me, Kureno Hiro.

Wearing a pair of denim jeans and donning my usual red jacket over my black tee shirt, I slip my feet into my black sneakers and push open the iron grill gate. I turn to take another peek into my small apartment. The atmosphere feels so cooling and serene as though it can never disturb anyone's sleep; although I find it funny that it has never happened to me before.

"See you tonight." I bid farewell to the empty room and then closes my gate with a pad lock across it.

The weather now in Tokyo metropolis is getting colder everyday with the approaching winter season. Rubbing my palms together to form some heat, I breathe onto them and stick them into the side pockets of my jacket as my eyes moves from side to side admiring the great city view. No matter how old I am, I guess I will never fail to amaze myself with the city scape of the capital of Japan. The streets, unsurprisingly, is filled with a massive crowd of civilians moving on with their daily routines. The chatter and voices of the crowd drones from one end of my ear to the other as I walked past them.

Standing before the traffic awaiting for my turn to cross the road, I bring my wrist in front of me to check my watch. It isn't an ordinary watch per say. On the surface, it shows the time and date similar to any other watches; which is 12pm now. But if you are to push the side button, the surface will fold itself into two and switches into a compass-like item called the 'Wand'.

No, I'm not lost in the city.

This compass is different. The magnetic needle never points to the north like it's supposed to. Instead, it will point itself to another source of energy, and it is those source of energy that I have been searching for during the past few years alone.

The needles points towards the west, slightly shaking. That means that I am still far from the target. Fastening my pace, I move swiftly through the numbers, carefully avoiding unnecessary collision with anyone.

* * *

In one of the back alleys of Tokyo where no one would traverse through was a group of terrified humans. Boys, men, girls and women alike; no gender and age were spared in the large group of around fifteen people. They were all tied with their arms stretched from one end to the other like the man in the bible who was crucified on the cross. Their eyes were all wide with fear and you could even see it forming all over their faces.

This was no surprise since they were all abducted suddenly from their daily lives without reasons. The culprit's intention was neither a ransom nor trade. All he wanted was to test the body limits of each of them, hoping to find the chosen one that they could use as their army for a new world.

The kidnapper was not human too. In fact, 'he's' an 'it'. It's body was green and scaled from the neck to the legs. It wore no garments; revealing its naked, monstrous build with pride. Its face resembled a reptile, its tongue sticking out with glee.

Under such circumstances, one would have screamed for help given the chance. But they were all masked with a tape over their mouth. A hope for help was close to futile and even if a passerby was to walk across the scene; they too, will miserably join the other victims.

"Don't be afraid. It's not like we're going to eat you or anything." The green lizard spoke in a low voice. Behind its back stood around eight other figures that resembled nothing like a normal human. They acted as the Lizard's henchmen, void of heart and emotion with their reason solely to comply to their leader's orders. Their skins were gray with a chest plate worn on their shoulder. They have no faces and each of them held onto a staff as their weapon of choice.

Without any commands from the Lizard-man, they stood silently like puppets. The Lizard walked towards the first crucified victim on the left. In its right claw held a curved dagger. The reptile moved its face close to the terrified man. It hissed into ear of the man as he struggled even harder to try and escape. But of course, it's useless to even try.

"Think of it as an...ant bitesss." The abductor said with glee and the next moment, a 'shhh' sound could be heard. It sounded like how a knife would dig into a piece of flesh. All the victims' eyes were on the unlucky man. His eyes widened, the pupils shrank.

And then, he just stayed that way as his body slowly turned into stone. Within seconds, the man was in a state of petrification. The Lizard backed away and observe the human stone. Shaking its head in disappointment, it pulls out the dagger that was stuck in the man's abdomen just moments ago. There was no trace of blood on the blade. It looked brand-new and without a scratch.

"Another failed being..." The inhumane creature said sadly. Playing with the dagger on its hand, the blade reflected the light of the gleaming sun onto the faces of the others. Seeing what it did to the man, some of them were shocked beyond control, breaking into an unconscious state. Others tried to shake violently to free themselves. Tears were rolling down their cheeks in a plead for forgiveness and mercy; although they were all just innocent people with no connections to the abductor.

But for the sadist reptile, it did not care for their feelings. All it wanted was to experiment.

"Oh well, how about you pretty little thing?" The lizard smiled and moved on to its next target.

* * *

"This is the place I guess." I said to myself as the needle shakes even more violently than before. No doubt, behind this stretch of dark alley is my prey. Not wasting another second, my leg starts to carry me forward as the alley echoes the sound of my light foot-steps.

As I travel further in, I can feel the slow change of atmosphere. The deeper I run, the more I can feel of the negative intent surrounding the narrow space. I can feel my heart thumping away excitedly in my chest as white vapor escapes my mouth with each breath. Turning right at the next junction, my eyes finally catches sight of my target.

The space here is even wider than the narrow, winding walkways. I can't say that it's a beautiful sight to behold right now because in front of my eyes are a group of innocent people tied to a cross of their own. At least half of the entire group are already in a state of petrification.

The culprit is the inhumane figure standing at the back. It resembles a reptile, a monster from myths. But as crazy as it sounds, they are real and living alongside us in this tiny world. The lizard must have caught my presence as it lifts its head up. The other victims catches a glimpse of me too and as though crying for help, their bodies tenses and shakes with all their strength.

"Hmmm? Are you here for a treatment too?" The Lizard-being hisses and diverts its attention from its victim to me.

"Yeah...I guess I'm suffering a relapse." I reply without a tone of humor, my left hand slowly reaches for the stone piece hanging on my neck. As soon as the Lizard sees my action, it jumps back with a look of bewilderment.

"That stone piece...the Pentacle?!" It shouts shakily. "That means that..."

"I'll show it to you if you want." Grabbing tightly to my necklace, I pull it out forcefully as the chains break and vanishes into thin air. Only the Pentacle rests on my palm. In a flashy pose of mine with the hand holding the Pentacle pushed down, facing the ground and my right hand over my face with fingers curled, I yell the words out with vigor.

"Henshin!"

A circle with the pentacle star lights up beneath my feet as a voice echoed in the air. It was a low, ancient and wise tone.

"_**Thou shalt summon...thy Fool!" **_

The light shines even brighter than before as the circle of light floats its way up and over my entire body. The body parts where the lights have crossed was donned with a leather black suit covered with metallic silver plates on my shoulder and chest; and bracers that resembled claws on my arms and legs. Metallic chains strapped themselves over my wrists.

The Pentacle emerges at my waist as a belt buckle with an ancient roman numeral '00' on the surface. My face is covered with a helmet bearing the motif of a wolf. The large red, oval shaped crystal eyes shines under the light. My chest plate flashes with radiance, donning a '00' as well on the center with a small chalice symbol slightly below it.

This is my job. To eradicate creatures like him off the face of the world.

With the ancient power that I carry with me, I swear to myself that as long as creatures like this exist, I will continue to fight.

I am-

"Kamen Rider, Zero..."

"-And your fate has been read."

* * *

**Author's Note:**

**Hiya readers of FanFiction! I am E.T Novem, a writer on the sister site, FictionPress. **

**Having read so many interesting fanfics of my favorite anime, manga, tv shows and novels alike, I have finally decided to venture here with a story of original content! I hope that you will support me, along with the characters of my work as I aim to bring out an interesting, untold story of a certain 'fool'. **

**I swear that if I have a software to draw my character and his suit, I will! **

**But anyways, I hope that my style of story telling is able to intrigue you into reading more of it. Because Kamen Rider originates from Japan, I decided to follow the elements such as the iconic 'Henshin' and the setting of Japan (although I have never been to Japan before...but I hope to!) . **

**Do drop me a review or PM if my story excites you or bores you so that I can improve as a writer! Thank you!**


	2. Reading 2

**Kamen Rider Zero**

**Reading 2: The warning, a curious girl and a determined mind!**

"Kamen Rider, Zero." I said out with pride, my left hand rest upon my chest. "And your fate has been read."

"Wha...? So you're that Zero everyone's been talking about!" The Lizard yelled with a flabbergasted look. Raising its arms up, the 'Voids'; soulless puppets that works only to their programmed leader, standing behind it immediately comes to life, readying their staff for combat.

"Get 'him!"

The Voids charges towards me as I lead them out of the narrow pathway to an open space. Even without turning back, I know that they will not stop unless they have fulfilled their master's wish. After all, that was what Voids are for in the first place. Upon stepping foot onto the wide platform at a nearby construction site, I bring my hand to my chest to call out my weapon.

"_**Thou grants...thy Chalister!" **_The ancient voice called out from my belt.

The hilt of a blade materializes from my chest as I pull the golden grip out to reveal a lustrous silver blade with ancient incantations scripted all over it. Chains were tied around the hilt and attached to the bottom of it was a golden shaped cup; a chalice.

Swinging the edged blade in a cross-like manner, I ready my stance with the sword held slanted slightly to the right. The first assault comes without mercy as it aims at my chest. Using my palm to support the tip of my sword, I pushed away the force without problem as sparks fly with a metallic 'clang' reverberating in the air. The impact pushes the grunt away and without the proper foothold and timing, the Void was hacked across the chest by my 'Chalister' sword.

The move was fatal, the wound burning the Void from the inside as it burst into crystals of light, floating through the air and 'sucked' into the depths of the Chalice. As soon as the Chalister registered the strike and the Void's light, the inscription nearest to the sword guard begins to light up faintly. Without wanting to stop the chain, I sidestepped to the right and swing a lower arc onto the surprised Void. It burns into light again and as it enters the Chalice, more of the inscription lights up.

That is part of how the Chalister works. By destroying the Voids and collecting their 'soul', the Chalice below the pommel will process it to 'power' the sword inscriptions. When it reaches the tip of the blade, interesting thing happens, so to say.

"What are you doing! He's just one Fool!" The Lizard man panics about, its arms shakily held onto his dagger and scepter. Within minutes, I successfully cleared all eight of the Voids and coincidentally, the Chalister is fully charged as well.

Now it is just the Lizard and me.

"D-don't you dare do anything! Aren't you afraid of my m-master?" It stutters.

"Do you think I care about it? In fact, I can't even remember the numbers I've slain."

"Insolent Fool! You are a d-disgrace!" The reptiles shouts and leaps into the air, its being covered by the natural sunlight. If he is trying to blind my sight with this move, it will not work. Calmly, my free hand grabs onto the chains around my hilt and the sword guard. Slightly tugging it, the metallic chains breaks apart as it slowly vanishes into thin air.

A sound rumbles around me as if to receive the 'awakening' of my blade.

"_**Zero, Channn-ccee!" **_The ancient voice said. Glowing a deep crimson, I raise my blade up in the sky and holding on to the hilt with both hands, I shout out the finishing strike.

"Twilight...Break!"

"Uwwahahhhhh?!"

Faint lavender and purple forms an afterimage behind the glowing Chalister as I swing it down to the ground. The sky literally distorts and splits into half, and through the split sky reveals a hazy red hue on the Lizard like a sneak peek into a twilight zone. It was a clean cut in the middle of its body. After a second or two, the two halves of the world combines together again into a normal stretch of light blue horizon and with it, an implosion from the Lizard in mid-air.

The fight has been concluded with that strike too.

The Chalister then breaks into tiny polygons, followed by my suit as the Pentacle rest upon my chest once more, the chains slowly materializes itself around my neck. Right now, I look no different than a normal man standing in the middle of an empty space.

I turn to look into the depths of the alley. With the Lizard man destroyed, those people must have been freed from their petrified forms, as well as the cross that binds them. It is most definitely the case as it is not the first time this kind of incident happened. In fact, it has been ongoing for more than a decade or so.

But I am just a lone man, doing whatever I can to help the innocents. After all, I have a bigger mission in mind to accomplish.

"Ahhh...another one has fallen."

The familiar voice that belonged to a man said from behind. I was not surprised, because he was someone that I used to know.

Then a friend, now an enemy. Even so, we always speak in ways that feels like we are close acquaintances. Brushing away my fringe, I turn to lock eyes with the slender man in a bowler hat that presses his hair neatly at the sides.. He fashions in a black vest over his white long sleeved shirt, a black slim pants and shiny black shoes.

"You sound too cheerful to mourn, Teriuihi." I reply and walked past him.

"Ha ha...is it, Hiro-chan? Anyway, I bear you interesting news. The Emperor and Empress has finally set their sights here."

My feet stops in mid-air for a while. I slowly processed the two terms in my head as I think of a reply. But I decided to push it aside and keep the feeling to myself. My lips curled into a silent smile as I continue my pace away from the scene, my back facing the mysterious hat man named Teriuihi Ando.

* * *

Unknown to the Rider, standing from a distance was someone who have observed the entire fight.

The girl dared not move a step at all. Before this, she was actually on her way back home from school when the sound of metal works attracted her attention. Pressing her body against one of the nearby cargo boxes, she could only peered out a little to catch a few glimpses of the entire action. It looked exactly like those movie shoots that the kids would love to watch. Cornered at a tight spot was weird looking goons sparring with a figure with unique features.

No doubt, that man was not human. Before he revealed himself to be a man, the gray knight in the form with wolf-like feature was able to equal or even overpower those scary-looking figures. And in matter of time, the knight was able to clear the field and even split the sky into two with just his gleaming sword.

Hamano Itoe was confused whether to feel in awe or be scared to the bones. What she witnessed was not something that could happen in a typical everyday life. The man in the gray suit with huge, bug-shaped eyes resembled something from the myth that surrounded her in school...

That aside, the sudden appearance of another man caught her by surprise. She did not remember seeing him anywhere nearby at all; yet he could appear just beside the man in an instant.

Sweat rolled from her forehead and trailed down to her neck. The cold wind blew across her face. Even in this cold, pre-winter temperature, all the action that occurred before her naked eyes was enough to bring heat to her face. Maybe she was more curious and excited than afraid after all.

She wanted to know the identity of that knight.

Although it was a myth that has been circulating itself among the people's ears, she was certain that the man fitted the description of a masked vigilante of the past. The vigilante that called himself Kamen Rider. She studied about them fervently whenever she had the time to.

Not only that, she even participated in a co-curriculum activity called the 'Kamen-Rider Club', a group named after the original Club that was widely popular in one of the high schools around Japan.

After sorting her thoughts out, Hamano has finally decided. She would tail the man and asked about his profession. And if she was lucky, she could even work as an apprentice for the Kamen Rider. Not even calculating the possibility of endangering her life at all, the brave girl backed away as she left the scene to stalk her target.

* * *

It is already close to 4pm. I rest my palm over my stomach as I can feel the gentle grumble from it, like it is begging for its space to be filled with food. I have already a place to eat in mind. Parking my 'Lone Wolf' (A 'super' bike with a wolf theme concept, the front being a wolf head and the back with a shout and curled up tail), I stand before the little cafe by the corner of the junction in Shibuya. Breathing warm air into my hands again, I pushed opened the door and entered the shop.

'Gothic 109', the name of the Goth-themed cafe. Sprawling with dark designs and puppet dolls aligned along the shelves, the cafe is surprisingly popular with the teenagers that shops around the district. Although I am a regular here, I guess I can never understand the trends of all these eccentric themes.

"Welcome again, Kureno-san!" The waiters and waitresses bows politely whenever they walked past me. I smiled briefly back without saying a word, my feet continues to the back of the cafe.

One can say that my relationship with the owner of the shop is very close; to the extent that I am sometimes considered the co-owner of the little cafe. It is rumored that the store owner is one of the flowers of this particular district. Pretty, tall and successful in her career, many girls often idolizes her so much that they even became regulars of the cafe and others to the extent of working here just to see her face.

Because of that, someone even made the rumor that I was wooing the store owner but that could only be so far from the truth.

Our relationship was only that of a brother-sister type (although we do not share the same blood). Nothing more, nothing less.

The door chimes lightly as I push it wide into the inner room of the cafe. Completely breaking away from the Gothic-theme, the room here is much more dull with curtains covering the natural light outside. Books are neatly arranged on the shelves. Flat television consoles fixed on the wall with a ton of books, letters, scribblings spread across the corner of the room. In the center is a crystal ball that rests gently on a red cushion, on a table with velvet cloth that falls all the way to the marble floor.

And behind the fancy crystal ball seats the beautiful owner of 'Gothic 109', Miharu Hikari.

"Welcome, Hiro." Hikari smiles pleasantly at me as she carefully place the cloth that she was wiping the crystal with on the table. She wears an orange jacket, her hair tucked nicely behind her ears as they trail down all the way to her shoulder. I take the seat opposite her and falls flat on the cushion, my hand rubbing my tummy to settle the grumbling.

"Anything nice for today?" I ask.

Hikari giggles and replies with a nod as she pulls out a remote that brings the flat screen LED television to life. Behind the screen is the face of one of the waitress as she beams a lively smile.

"How may I help you, Hikari-san!"

"Sweetheart, can you get me the usual dish for this bum?"

I give a 'tch' to Hikari's words as though to say 'I can hear you'. The waitress laughs meekly and nods as she takes down the order. Greeting thanks, Hikari switches off the console as she direct her attention to wiping the crystal ball.

"Have you heard about the recent news?" I say.

"Of course. And I have also heard about your encounter with Teriuihi Ando." She replies, humming away to a tune of a song. When she said 'heard', it always means that she has viewed them through the images in her crystal possession.

Miharu Hikari possesses a talent that is almost similar to an Esper. Since young, she has always been fond of delving into these wonders and unknowingly, it seems like heaven themselves decides to give her a gift to fulfill her wish. It is not a surprise that she can view things that normal people can't through the glass object.

There was a moment of silence for awhile, except for her faint humming melody.

"Emperor and Empress...if they are setting here, that means that the _rest_ of them will be coming along too, no?" Hikari says in a childish tone. "Perhaps Hiro...is afraid?"

"As a matter of fact, no." I reply, interlocking both hands together and rest it under my chin. "It will be easier to accomplish my goal this way too."

Hikari stops wiping her magical treasure for awhile and looks up, our eyes locked for brief moment. Then, she smiles happily to herself and resumed her chore again.

"Fufu~ I'm sure, Kureno Hiro."

* * *

**Author's Note:**

**And I guess that sums up as an entire episode? Hmmm browsing through the fanfic site, it seems that it is quite hard to be successful in appealing the readers with an OC Kamen Rider story. But I hope that after this chapter, it has sparked some sort of interest in your heart to continue reading this! **

**P.S: I hope that the fight scene is interesting and what do you think about the 'Lone Wolf'? It will be the exclusive KR Zero bike for this series!**


	3. Reading 3

**Kamen Rider Zero**

**Reading 3: The Arcana that shambles 'Hope'.**

Hamano Itoe stood blankly in the cross junction of Shibuya with a disappointed look. Just a few days ago, she was able to follow the back of the red jacket man but because of him rushing off in a bike, Hamano lost sight of him. Gone in a blur of moment was her chance to clarify her question as to whether the red bug-eyed knight was indeed a Kamen Rider of legend or not. Since then, she had not seen that man. Sulking to herself, Hamano walked over to the nearby bench by the vending machine and sat down.

Covering the lower part of her face with her cyan scarf, the proud member of the 'unofficial' Kamen Rider Club gave a resigned sigh.

"Hamano-chan!" The voice which belongs to a guy brought her attention as she looked around. At the corner of her eyes stood the president of her school club, Kenta. Waving to her from a distance, he started to jog over and took a seat beside her.

"Hello...Kenta." Hamano greeted.

"What're you doing here alone? Going on a date?" Kenta raised his eyebrow with a glee look on his face. However, Hamano ignored it and looked away in deep thoughts. Then, it occurred to her that maybe Kenta may have seen the Kamen Rider before. After all, Kenta was a huge fan of it. Ever since his trip to a certain high school with the official Kamen Rider club, Kenta was inspired to create one of his own back in his school. And that was how it all began with Hamano eventually joining them.

"Say...Kenta. Have you seen a...Kamen Rider before?" Hamano asked doubtfully. She did not really expect for an answer though it would be nice to have one.

"Kamen Rider?...Well, to be honest, no." Kenta replied with a smile.

"Then do you believe in one living amongst us?"

"Of course and without a doubt! That's how the club started right? I have always dreamed of meeting one in front of me! " Kenta stood up and shouted with pride, attracting the attention of nearby groups. Hamano looked around and hid in her scarf, slightly alarmed at his enthusiastic expression. But he was right. Why did she even asked a stupid question like this? Hamano sighed again as she dug into her pocket to get a few coins.

'Klunk!' The hot can of coffee tumbled onto the carrier as Hamano reached for it after pressing the button of the vending machine. Wrapping her hands tightly around the can for warmth, Hamano shrugged the can to Kenta, which he politely declined. But Kenta was curious about her question too. Could it be something that had happened to her that wavered her heart?

"Why the sudden question? That's unlike you, Hamano-chan."

Hamano opened her mouth, but closed it as she thought that maybe she could have been seeing things just now. If she have told Kenta and it all turned out to be a huge dead end, she would have crushed Kenta's hope of meeting a Masked vigilante. So, she chose to keep it in for now, until she gathered enough evidence. Shaking her head, Hamano gave a weak smile to Kenta.

"Just asking...anyways, why are you here?" Hamano asked.

"I asked you but it seemed to have turned its way around, huh?" He scratched his temple and laughed. "For starters, I was thinking of visiting the Charity for Hope down at Meiji Shrine. It would be nice to volunteer in these events once in a while, don't you think?"

Hamano smiled at his thought. Kenta has always been the helpful and sincere type of guy. Given the way he dressed himself as an intellectual being, sometimes she found it cute that such pure personalities could be seen in this Kamen Rider fan. Taking a sip of the coffee, Hamano have finally decided on her agenda for the day.

"Let's go there then."

Unknown to them, a tall and tanned figure towered over the skyscrapers of Shibuya. He looked down onto the sea of ants if though belittling their statures. He looked Caucasian but that was far from his real identity. Curling his lips into a devilish grin, half of the man's face distorted to reveal a beast that resembled a goat.

* * *

After having my lunch at Hikari's shop, I took my 'Lone Wolf' and rode to Meiji Shrine. It was actually out of interest as I wanted to see for myself the event that was being held there. Because of the short distance, I managed to reach there in less than 15 minutes. Standing before the banner, I observe the readings on the it.

'Charity For Hope'. There are quite a number of people walking around here already. The main charity event will happen in around an hour's time. It will be nice to walk around to burn off those lunch just now as I head for the shrine first to offer a prayer or two.

"Ah, Hiro! Over here!" A voice catches me by surprise as I turn to take a look. It's one of my closer friends that I actually have contact with often. His name is Takeru, the chairman for the event being held here. His family is often known for their charity organization campaigns and being the kind character he is born with, it was natural that Takeru succeed his father's position. I smiled and walked over to him with an open palm.

"Takeru. What a pleasant surprise." I greeted with a firm handshake.

"I should be saying that. And I was thinking if you will be coming over and who knew!" Takeru replies with his usual humbleness. Unknowingly, we started to chat about our lives and also our current work. I told him that I was working over at a cafe (although it was lie. That shop belonged to Hikari's in the first place), and that I have only just ended my shift. Then after a few minutes of talk, it was time for Takeru to take his leave for a press conference happening nearby. We bid goodbye as I turn to the shrine once more.

'Pap, Pap' I clapped twice and begin my prayers in front of the shrine after giving my offering tribute. But just as I was in the middle of it, I felt a chill down my spine.

"_Hopes are for the weak, do you not agree?"_

The low, burly voice freezes me in my track. I can never forget that voice. From the sound, I can feel that he is just standing behind me; although I cannot find the strength to turn. It's not that I can't, but because I refuse to acknowledge his existence. It is all too fast to be happening. Taking in deep breaths, I try to collect my thoughts together. Then, I quickly swing my head to the back-

-But there is no one behind, just the lively crowd gathering around the shrine. I try to zone into that voice again beneath the chattering and laughter. But no doubt it is gone now. I quickly lift my watch up and switches it to 'Compass' mode.

To think that the needle is spinning uncontrollably! For a long time, I have never encountered a reaction of this level! That person must be nearby as I scanned the crowd with worried look...this is not a mistake...

"One of the 'Arcanas' must have arrived."

* * *

"Wow...the festival looks so awesome!" Hamano gasped. Even she was amazed at the amount of hard work and effort that the organizers have committed to make this grand event. At the entrance of the shrine held a tall banner that shows the word 'Charity For Hope' with loud clarity. There were rows of stalls pitched along the perimeter of the shrine which included games, food and beverages to even luck draw dips. Kenta tugged Hamano along as he led her into the festival grounds.

"Hurry! The press conference should be starting soon!" Kenta exclaimed, his hands holding onto the shy Hamano. Hamano's shyness was not from the fact that she held any feelings for him, but because she have always been shy around guys. Although she may have been friends with Kenta for so long, even holding hands like this would still make her blush.

Pushing through the crowd, Kenta managed to find a good spot for the two of them to stand. And it was at that point of time that the press conference finally commenced.

"Ladies and gentlemen, we will now invite the chairman of the charity association to come on stage for his speech!" The emcee's charismatic voice brought the applause from the crowd to welcome the guest of honor. Takeru, the chairman of 'Charity For Hope', climbed up the steps with enthusiasm as he waved with a smile on his face to the supporters of the event.

"Thank you, thank you for coming to this event. Although this may be a small event contributed by the many charitable sponsors and volunteers, this means a lot to the needy families who still hold the hopes of living a better tomorrow! And so,..."

The words trails on as the crowd listened attentively, except for Hamano, who was looking at the other direction with curiosity. She swore that she could see a husky man that does not look like any of the locals, walking towards the backstage. Maybe he was one of the tough bodyguards meant to uphold the security here, Hamano thought. But just as she was about to pay her attention to the speech, a yell sounded from the backstage, shocking everyone, including the chairman himself. Then, another two more echoed in the air, sending a chill down her spine.

"What happened?"

"Who shouted?"

"It sounds scary..."

Hamano was drowned with the uncertain voices from the audiences as some of them began to freak out. Charity events like these usually would have some idiots who would try to sabotage and steal the contributions collected. But Hamano was not too sure about that. If the purpose was to really steal the money, why make a scene in the most populated area?

'Crash!'

The background board behind the chairman burst into pieces instantly. From the shadows inside revealed a huge figure that looked nothing like human. It looked like a goat with a beast body. The obsidian horns protruded upwards and curled at the ends. The goat was at least a head bigger than the chairman, who was pale white from the shock.

"Hopes are for losers, don't you think?" The goat said with a distorted voice.

"What?" The chairman replied shakily. The Goat-beast than made its way towards the helpless man and placed its palm on his forehead.

"Shambles." It chanted.

For a moment, there was no reaction from the chairman. But then, he started to shake violently and gave a bloodcurdling scream as he pushed himself away. Covering his head under his folded arms, the chairman who was once charismatic and full of confidence, now became a helpless man who looked like he has lost his sanity.

Chaos broke upon the shrine space as the crowd started to run in all direction, panicking from the madness and sudden appearance of a monster.

Kenta started to pull Hamano away and ran too, but because of the moment of panic, Kenta lost his footing and fell on the floor with Hamano along with him. Hamano groaned in pain as she massaged her bruised ankle, almost forgotten about the danger they were in until she saw the Goat figure slowly making its way towards them.

"Hamano! R-run away! I-i'll distract him!" Kenta yells as he pulls himself in front of her with his arms spread opened. "Stay away you-you monster!"

"Stop living in delusion..." The Goat said, its footstep continued towards them until they were less than a meter apart. The Goat then places its palm on Kenta's face as Hamano sat helplessly lost on the floor. She wanted to help but the fear in her heart was greater than she have ever thought of before.

"Shambles." The Goat chanted the same words that it said to the Chairman before.

"Kenta!" Hamano could not hold it anymore as she shouts for her friend. Kenta remained frozen on the ground. Then, Hamano's nightmare happened.

"No...Kamen Riders...they're not real! A bunch of lies! Bull shit! Why the hell am I even making a club out of hearsay rumors?" Kenta fell flat on the floor, rolling around. His expression was pale with shock and disbelief as he cursed on the very idol he used to worship.

Hamano was speechless as she witness her friend's demise before her. Could it be that the Goat monster has the ability to break the inner confidence and hopes that the person once have into nothing, like a crumbling tower just by putting its palm over their face, chanting that word?

"Kenta..snap out of it!" Hamano crawled to her friend's aid as she tried to shake some sense into him, but it was futile. Then, the shadow that towered before Hamano reminded her of her own situation as well. She did not know what to do. How to react and what to react. Maybe she would fall into insanity as well. She shut her eyes tight, trying hard to pretend that it was all a dream.

During the point where she thought it was all over, a faint image flashed in her mind. It was that gray knight she saw earlier today. With all her heart, she pray that the warrior would soon come to her aid. Who knew that her wish would be granted as the ground began to shake. Within the darkness, she heard a voice.

"_**Thou shalt summon...thy Fool!" **_A strange, wise voice that she thought only happened in television shows where the ancient civilization would sound like. Then, another voice appeared in her head. No, it sounded more like he was just beside him.

"Kamen Rider, Zero."

* * *

**Author's Note:**

**Hahaha! Just couldn't contain the excitement anymore that I have to publish another new chapter! Well, after this chapter I guess I will be slowing down my pace. I do hope that the story is exciting and that my style of writing does not bore you readers! Did you caught onto the KR club? It's a reference to a KR series though I have to highlight that this story does not follow any of the KR world. **

**In fact, think of it as the Rider living in the same universe as how you will see KR double, OOO, Fourze and Wizard in the same world :)**


	4. Reading 4

**Kamen Rider Zero**

**Reading 4: Predicament**

"_**Thou Shalt Summon...Thy Fool!" **_

"Kamen Rider, Zero"

The voice of the man's introduction brought Hamano's head up as she turned to see the gray knight that she tried so hard to find for the past few days. Inside her contained mixed feelings. Although she was scared just moments before, Hamano felt unknowingly relieved upon seeing her prayers answered.

_'Upon closer view, the Kamen Rider of legend looked really cool_', Hamano thought. The chains hung around his wrist resonated as he moved his wrist that was holding on to the wild-looking sword. The blade resembled the shape of a wolf's tail and on one side was spiked like a wolf's fur.

Weird inscriptions traveled along the blade's surface from the tip to the sword guard, chains tied around the guard to his hands. At the bottom of the sword was a shape that resembled a chalice. The image of the holy grail from King Arthur's fabled story came into Hamano's mind.

By now, the place was emptied from all the sudden chaos, except for Hamano and her terrified schoolmate, Kenta. Even if she wanted to escape, there were no leeway that allowed her to. She was sandwiched on both side. The Goat-beast showed no reaction from the appearance of the Kamen Rider. In fact, it almost felt like it was expecting him.

"Zero, the 'Majesties' summons you." The Goat-beast spoke first in a gravely deep voice.

"I have already severed all ties with the rest." The Kamen Rider replied coldly. Hamano was confused with their conversation but one thing was sure; they must have met before this. Until now, Hamano has only barely pulled Kenta away from the two strong beings. Pushing her distance, Hamano prayed for both Kenta and her safety while the two of them paid no attention. Perhaps, the monster must have purposely created this uproar to catch the Rider's attention.

Turning her attention to the pale-stricken Kenta, Hamano felt a sense of guilt in her heart. It was because of Kenta's action to save her that caused this despair onto him. Right now, all Kenta was whispering to himself were all gibberish and curses on the very idol that he has always worship; the Kamen Rider.

_'I'm sorry, Kenta' _She thought to herself and decided that it will be the first two words that she will say to Kenta once he recovers.

The air around was stale and imbued with deadly intention. Not a breeze could be felt as the two figure stood not more than 20 meters apart. Exchanging only looks without a mouth of word, both side have only one goal in mind. On the Goat-beast's side, it's sole intention was to bring back the Kamen Rider. On the other end, Zero sought to only kill his enemy. He was determined to win the fight.

It was too early for him to lose. After all, he still have a promise that had to be kept.

The next second brought about an epic showdown between both sides. Kureno Hiro, the Rider known as Zero, ran towards the beast with his sword held over his head. The beast did the same too, both arms retracted to prepare his strike. Zero swung his blade in an arc across the monstrous figure – but the attack was quickly intercepted with the Goat-beast's grip. Taking that opportunity, Zero thrust his free arm onto the Beast's unguarded chest.

'Grab!'

"...?!"

The Goat-beast had already anticipated that attack.

"You cannot hope to defeat me with that strength." The Goat-beast replied coolly.

"Tower...you know what I have to do." Zero replied, behind the mask was Kureno Hiro with gritted teeth. They pushed each other back and clash forth again. The impact was so great that yellow sparks flew, a gust of wind blown out from the point of contact.

The Goat-Beast, Tower, quickly materialized a trident in its free hands and swung it downwards, scratching against the silver plates of the Rider. That move could have been avoided, Zero thought and blamed that mistake on his lack of concentration. It was a hard better to be fought because the one Zero was facing was no mere foe.

Tower, in the Organization known as the Major Arcanas, was ranked among one of the higher class servants under the rule of 'World', the leader of the group. Known for his destructive strength, and almost impernertrable defense, Zero honestly felt a bit discouraged at the thought of it.

'Clang! Swish! Chink!'

Blows after blows were delivered by both parties, most of them were evaded either barely or with great perception. Taking a step back, Zero reached for his belt and tapped the Pentacle belt buckle. A small token in the shape of a wolf appeared in his hand. Wasting no time, Zero threw the token into the Chalice of the sword. Almost instantly, the inscriptions lit up in white light as Zero removed the chains binding the Chalister.

"_**Zero, Howww-uwl!" **_The enigmatic voice of Chalister shouted as the blade glow into life. Raising it up above his head similar to how a katana user prepares his stance, Zero decided to give his all in this decisive strike.

"Canis...chase!"

A burst of blinding light in the shape of wolves charges out as soon as Zero threw the Chalister onto the ground. Howls echoed through the atmosphere as the Wolves sprints onto their targeted prey.

- Only to be deflected so easily by Tower's long trident.

Holding tightly to the trident, Tower twisted its torso and whirled the weapon against Zero, who barely pushed the tip away with the Chalister. However, the force was strong enough to even send Zero flying mid-air, crashing onto the floor.

"Is this how...the fight of Riders and monsters are like?" Hamano said to herself with awe, mouth gaped open.

"Zero...you've grown weak. Holding onto hopes are only for those who perceived their life to be meaningless. Do you really want to walk down the path of foolishness, like all the other humans?" Tower said calmly, swinging the trident and brought it behind its back.

"You have no idea...how much I have learned...from them." Zero panted through the mask, his arms barely held the strength to push him up. "Forcing me back will never yield the results that you guys want!"

Tower shook its head in disappointment. There was silence for a while before Tower turned its back.

"Perhaps you are right. I will give you time to consider our Proposal. Until then, I'm afraid that the burden of the lives of those innocents will be in your hands." Finishing its sentence, the Beast walked away, its being slowly distorted and vanished into thin air.

Zero winced, holding tightly to his wound as his eyes caught sight of an unconscious man lying on the stage. It was then that Zero recognized the face of the being.

"Takeru!" Zero picked himself up and dragged towards his friend. As he was getting closer to him, the suit breaks up and shatters away in faint polygons, revealing the saddened face of Kureno Hiro.

"Uwwwwwwuuuuuuu..." Sirens rang in the air as police cars and ambulances lined themselves up around the perimeter, nurses and policemen rushing out to bring the casualties back to the hospital. No one knew about the fight before, the confrontation between the Beast and also the mysterious Rider.

Except for Hamano Itoe.

* * *

"Takeru...I'm sorry." I mutter under my breath as my eyes lay upon my unconscious friend. I was angry and very disappointed at myself. After Takeru was being taken by the stretcher, I followed him all the way here to Sanno hospital.

Right now, Takeru is under the mercy of UV drips as he sleeps peacefully in the room faced with four white walls. The smell of antiseptic wavers through the air of the quiet atmosphere. The only prominent sound in the room is the ticking of the wall clock.

How can I let him, along with those innocent people suffer because of me? I raise my palm and clench it into a fist. I should have expected this to happen. I should have been prepared but why do my strength say otherwise during the fight between Tower and I?

"I'm...too weak." I say softly. I need to be stronger as fast as possible. I cannot possibly be on my current pace anymore. Tower did not mention when he would need my answer but no one knows what is going through the complex mind of that man. Right now, I can only prepare myself for his next visit, or the other Arcanas. Rising from my seat, I retrieved my jacket from the table and begin to make my way out of the ward.

"I'll be back, friend" I smile to my sleeping friend as the door slides back to a close. Turning to the corridor aisle, I was about to make my way out of the hospital when I heard the sound of fast, light steps from behind.

"Stop!" The clear voice of a girl echoed down the hallway as I slightly turn my head around to catch a look. Dressed in white winter jacket and a blue scarf wrapped around her neck, the girl with hair flying wildly along the wind looks like a schooling teenager. Is she playing catch with her friend?

"For god's sake, this is a hospital..." I mutter. Ignoring her ruckus, I turn to walk again.

'Thud!'

"Ouch!" A sudden pain shoots through the back of my leg as I can't help but shout it out. All the nurses and doctors around immediately snap their head towards me with their piercing death stare. Giving an apologetic look, I furrow my brows and turn to see the culprit – only to find the school girl panting behind me, her hands rests on her knees.

"I said...stop..." The girl speaks in a softer voice. Relaxing my shoulders, I massage along the bruised leg and then regain my posture. Observing the girl from head to toe, I do not remember meeting her before...so why is she running to hard to catch up to me?

"Do I know you?" I ask as I wait for her to regain her regular breathing.

"I know who you are." She says with a determined look through her brown eyes. Taken aback, I remain silent as I waited for her next few words. "I know that you're...a Kamen Rider!"

* * *

At a certain mansion around the quieter districts of Tokyo, the gates opened to welcome the arrival of the 'Tower'. Dressed in a tight singlet and blue pants, the man known as Tower walked calmly towards the entrance of the house.

"Why do you not bring him back?" A voice called for Tower, stopping him in his tracks. Some distance away, a husky man sat on the bench of the front yard. Bigger than the Tower, the man held onto a whip around his wrist as he lashed the ground once with it.

"He will come eventually. There's no use forcing him." Tower replied without looking over to the man. Wrapping the whip around his hands, the mysterious man stood up and stretched.

"Where do you think you're going?" Tower questioned.

"To finish up the job." He replied, grinning away as he walked out of the mansion. Tower stood there without words. As the footsteps of the man softened away into silence, Tower turned towards the bench that the man sat.

Over there, just meters in front of the bench, where the ground was much shaken up with cracks and dirt was a huge, thick hole forming the line of the whip lash.

* * *

**Author's Note: **

**Alrighty! Managed to churn out yet another chapter and things are finally progressing! So far, did you guys enjoy the story of Hiro and Kamen Rider Zero? I hope that the fight with Tower had you guys thinking 'How strong is that Goat man?!' **

**-laughs-**

**ok now! Can't wait to start working on my next chapter so to my dear readers, thank you for subscribing to this story and supporting me! I won't disappoint you guys! As always, feel free to leave a review to let me know what do you like/not like about the chapter! **


	5. Reading 5

**Kamen Rider Zero**

**Reading 5: Where's your responsibility?**

"Fufu~ Hiro, I don't remember you telling me that you got yourself a girlfriend." Hikari beams a smile at me, her finger playfully twirls around the long end of her hair. I narrowed my eyebrows in annoyance as I lift the fork full of spaghetti into my mouth. Seating in the middle of the cafe, 'Gothic 109', I was the center of attention by all the waiters and waitresses.

Their eyes were pinned on me ever since I entered the shop. Some even shook their head in disappointment and even mouthed 'You have betrayed Miharu Hikari's love'.

I resented a sigh and as I grab hold of the glass of water in front of me, I can't help but turn my eyes to the girl sitting in front of me that was full of deadly aura.

No she's not Hikari.

Sitting in the center of both of us was a girl in a brown long sleeve sweater and blue scarf around her neck. Her hair was tied with a ponytail at the back and her lips pouts in defiance. For the past few days, she have been following me around so closely, her eyes pinned on me so deadly without even blinking in front of me before. As I chug down the warm glass of water, our eyes remain in contact for the entire moment. I was worried that if I ever look away for even a slight moment, she would do something terrible to me.

"Hmmm~ So your name is Hamano Itoe...may I call you Hana-chan? It sounds so much easier." Hikari says to the girl in front of me.

"Yes! Thank you for the meal, Hikari." Breaking away from the glare and giving a sweet smile, the girl known as Hamano nods lightly at her with approval. But when she catches sight of my eyes, the evil aura just comes pouring out of her again.

No, I can't take this anymore. Putting the empty glass on the table firmly, I take a deep breath in and look intently into her.

"Now listen, I don't know who you are so please...can you stop harassing me?"

'Pank!'

Her palm smacked flat on the mahogany table, Hamano stands up straight with her other arm curled into a fist. Both Hikari and I were taken aback, as well as the other patrons and staffs.

"How dare you even say that?!" Tears starts to well at the corner of her eyes. What-? How can she even cry from my one sentence?! "You...that day...how could you..." She cries out with streaming tears at the sides of her cheeks. Flabbergasted, I can't help but stand up in shock.

"Wha-what...?!"

"My, my...Hiro..." Hikari looks at me with a disappointed look. "How can you make Hana-chan cry?" She continues.

"Wait, who are you siding with?" I yelp.

"How are you going to take responsibility for that day!" Hamano cries out with her hands in the air.

The entire cafe suddenly turns into an awkward silence.

I was completely frozen in my tracks. I was shocked, more like in the state of utter confusion. Hikari's reaction was the same as well as she raised both hands to cover her mouth.

"H-Hiro...is this...t-true? That you make Hana-chan...that day...oh my..." Hikari stutters with disbelief.

No wait, this isn't what she meant! It couldn't be! What is that Hamano girl even thinking?

Then, I noticed another deadly atmosphere coming from another source...

"HOW COULD YOU BETRAY OUR BOSS'S LOVE?!" The piercing shout from all the cafe staffs rang in the air.

* * *

…

"Ahh...so that's what happened." Hikari says as she take a sip of the oolong tea, gently placing the tea cup on the table.

After what took like ages, Hamano finally finished recounting the entire event from the day she saw my Rider form to the point where her friend was knocked unconscious by the works of Tower. She has also properly introduced herself to be a high school student from a nearby neighborhood and apparently, a member of a club known as the 'Kamen Rider Club'. Finally, the killing intent from all the staff managed to subside gradually from the misunderstanding as well.

I relieve a sigh and slouch against the soft cushion seat.

"Oh my, I knew Hiro here would not be so aggressive towards girls." Hikari giggles lightly as she waves it off. I was speechless and only replied her with a glare for that contradictory statement. I swear that even she was doubting me just now...

"So that's why...I will continue to follow him until he cure my friend from that state!" Hamano says in a resentful tone. Avoiding her eyes, I look away and onto the watch on my wrist. Changing the display into the 'Wand' mode, the small compass reveals itself from the other side.

Then I noticed that the needle was shaking aggressively on the watch. I snap my head up and looked out of the window. Judging from the needle's behavior, there must be traces of the 'Minor Suits' and 'Voids' nearby here. Pushing back the chair, I quickly take another quick sip of water and begin to make my way out of the cafe.

"Hikari, I have some 'matters' to attend to." I said.

"Hey wait! Are you going to shirk your responsibility?" Hamano yells at me, ignoring the stares from nearby patrons.

"Hikari, do me a favor and make sure she stays here." I promptly direct my words to Hikari.

"Sure." She replies cheerfully. Before closing the door behind, I can briefly hear the voice of the rebellious teenager as she tries to struggle her way out to follow me.

But I trust Hikari that she keeps her words.

Lifting my leg over the 'Lone Wolf's body, I revved up the bike engine and rides off into the housing districts ahead.

The trip from Hikari's cafe to the place where the 'Wand' guides me took less than 15 minutes. Before long, I reached a nearby park that was surprisingly empty. It was as though a forbidden land for anyone to step on. Halting my bike, I landed and make my way towards the vacant playground with my eyes alert around the surrounding.

There, not far ahead, I saw my target for the day. The figure was of average build similar to the Lizard man.

It's the Minor Suits, an experimented creature done by one of the Arcanas back in the base. They are mutated creatures or sometimes, humans, with their mind programmed to search for other humans who far surpasses their limits compared to the average. And if they do ever find one, they will capture them and make them into their Minor Suits or even something else.

Crowded behind the Fox Suit was a group of small children with their parents standing alongside them. Their eyes were blank as though in a deep trance. They were definitely hypnotized by it, though the means was something I could not figure out.

"Hey!" I shouted. Shocked, the Fox Suit jumps around to meet me.

"Strange, I don't remember missing out another one. Might you be interested in joining a little party with them?" The Fox waves its hand over to the soulless figures who stands in attention.

"Sorry, I guess I'll be crashing it instead." I mocked, breaking off the necklace with my fingers gripped over the Pentacle. Pushing it down to just mid-air facing the ground, I raised my other hand with clawed fingers and shouted,

"Henshin!"

Moments later, the transformation process begins with the ancient voice,

"_**Thou Shalt Summon...Thy Fool!" **_Donning myself in the Kamen Rider suit known as Zero, I stand with my right hand on my chest proudly looking at the amazed Minor Suit.

"Kamen Rider, Zero."

"-And your fate has been read."

"This isn't good now, is it? Voids, attack!" From beneath the ground formed a group of faceless warriors with staffs in their arms. Adhering to the command, the Voids came charging towards me without hesitation.

"_**Thou grants...thy Chalister!" **_I pull the materialized blade out of my chest and prepare my stance against the tiny threat. Swinging the sword in a cross-like manner, I pull the blade high and swing it across the perimeter of the wave.

'Bling, bling, bling, bling'

One by one, the Voids were slain without mercy by my blade as the Chalice absorbs the light to prepare my sword for the final showdown. As the red inscription lit up with a chromatic tune along with it, the Fox Suit starts to panic as it decides to pit itself against me personally.

"Die!" It shouts as it swings its tail towards me. Unguarded, my armor was scratched hard against the spiked tails as I was pushed slightly to the side. I take a sneak peek on the Chalister and saw that the blade only needs a few of lights of the Voids to use the special skill. "Where're you looking at!" The Fox says as it claws its way towards me, flinging me off the ground. Quickly regaining my balance, I finally decided on a backup plan.

Tapping the Pentacle lightly, the wolf token was summoned onto my hand as I throw it into the Chalister's cup. Processing the token took no more than a fraction of second as I unlock the potential to use my other skill.

"_**Zero, Howww-uwl!" **_

"What was that irritating screech?" The Fox asked.

Holding the blade high up under the radiant shine of the sunlight, I smirked behind my mask.

"Your end, Canis...Chase!"

The bright light of Wolf spirits emerges out of the Chalister blade as they travel in a pack of four, howling away in the wind as they lunges towards the Minor Suit.

'Grash!' The four wolves aimed their fangs at the arms and legs of the Minor Suit.

"Ouch! Get off me!" It yelps, unable to move. With the fangs of the wolves restricting its action, I raise the sword beside my mask as I point it towards the Fox. "No, no! Don't hurt me!" It pleaded but then, it was too late.

"Canis...Rush!" I shouted the second and decisive finish and in a flash of white light in the shape of a Wolf head, my body zooms past the Fox with my legs sliding to a stop at the other end. Dust and smoke clouds my feet as I swing the sword in a cross once more and raise it straight on my right. A tiny explosion lighted up for a moment as the Fox Suit burns into ashes, my job done for the day.

As the Minor suit disappears, so did the curse that hypnotized the innocent children and adults.

"Hey mama, look! I want that toy!"

"Ultraman!"

"Wow!"

The kids shouted with awe upon looking at me but the adults on the other hand, quickly pulled their children back and ran off, evacuating from the spot. That was expected, because who wouldn't freak out from looking at a stranger holding on to a daunting, long blade?

As I release myself from the suit of armor, I adjusted my jacket and look around me. There, from a distance was a figure running up to me. Slowly approaching me, I could faintly make out the appearance...

It was Hamano Itoe, the school girl.

"Hey! Why did you even run off!" She shouts angrily towards me, her tone reverberated in the cold air. Standing at the same spot, I returned a neutral look as I brush my fringe to the side. As Hamano reached just a few meters in front of me, she gives off a deadly stare at me.

"What do you want from me." I asked in an annoyed tone.

"You're rude." She quickly replied. "From what I heard from Kenta, Kamen Riders are supposed to be much, much nicer than you!" Hamano said angrily. Crossing my arms, I looked away coldly to ignore those words.

'Don't compare me to those Kamen Riders. What do you even know about me?', was what I wanted to reply but in the end, I decided to save my breath.

"Kamen Riders are supposed to be righteous, polite, helpful, caring, friendly and take pride in their job. They are responsible with their actions but all those qualities...I see not one bit in you!" Hamano continued.

Slowly moving my eyes to her, my fists were curled hard. Her words are no doubt hurtful and her thinking is too...naive. But deep behind those brown eyes of hers, I can't help but to see someone that I used to know in her liking. I can't help but relax my muscles upon the resurfaced memory of that lady again, the one from my dream.

"Zero! I've come for you!"

My eyes widens as I looked up in the sky. Approaching towards us was a huge figure riding a carriage pulled by nothing but spiked wheels. I could feel the killing intent behind those words and more importantly, I knew that voice...

It was another Arcana, similar to Tower.

So far, I have only knew of one person who travels the air in a cartwheel...

"Hey girl! Look out!" I yelled as I shove her little body away from the huge impact that crushed the ground that she once stood into pieces of debris and cracks. Quickly twisting my body, I made sure that I have the girl land on my body instead of the hard ground. My back grazed hard upon the floor and even with the padding of my jacket, the impact still slightly shakes me a little.

Landed on the ground in front of us stood a husky and well-built figure. His orange mustache and bread grew so thick that it connects all the way to his sideburns like a Santa Claus with a very short beard. With his hair pushed back and wearing a blue robe tied tightly around his thick waist, the brute man looked down upon me with his only intention; to capture me.

"What? What is this?" Hamano yelps, pushing away my body as she stands up. "Wait, how did he jump from the sky? Are you a Super human?" She asked the Arcana, obviously oblivious to the sudden turn of situation. Picking my ground, I raise my hand in front of Hamano in a defensive manner.

"Get out of here, as far away as you can." I said, panting away.

"What do you mean?"

"This guy...in front of us...he's dangerous!" I shouted as the Arcana's lips curled into a devilish smile.

* * *

**Author's Note:**

**Wowowowwww can't believe that I can even churn out another chapter with a tired mind! The entrance of a dangerous Arcana with the killing intent towards Hiro! An interesting battle that will propel the story forward with interesting plot points!**


	6. Reading 6

**Kamen Rider Zero**

**Reading 6: Zero vs Chariot**

Hamano was confused and her mind in a state of blank. Just moments ago, she was throwing out her anger at the person behind Kamen Rider Zero, Kureno Hiro. She was unhappy and disappointed about his attitude as compared to what she thought a Kamen Rider should be. But then, she was shoved away, followed by hearing a loud thunderclap that shattered the ground she once stood.

Now, appearing in front of them...was a man who landed from the sky via a flying carriage.

"This guy...in front of us...he's dangerous!" Hiro's words caught Hamano's attention as her eyes were on full alert at the stranger's appearance. Regardless of her anger with Hiro, Hamano understood his words and trusted him. After all, he did appear in the nick of time and saved Hamano from breaking into unconsciousness back at Meiji Shrine.

The man was at least a head taller and much larger then Hiro. His eyes were big and tenacious and in his hands held a long whip. It was still hard for Hamano to believe that the whip was the cause of the destruction on the ground. It was unsafe for her, even if she was standing behind the Rider user for she may be caught up in their fight. Retreating her steps, her eyes caught onto Hiro, who was already gripping onto his necklace tightly.

"Henshin!"

"_**Thou Shalt Summon...Thy Fool!" **_

In a quick and fluid motion, the Hiro that once stood before her was basked in white light as a circle floats over his body. In his place was now an armored figure in leather black suit. Resting his right palm on his breastplate and the other hand holding on to the wild primitive sword, the man known as Kamen Rider Zero has arrived.

"Kamen Rider, Zero!" He shouted his introduction and without even waiting for any action from the stranger, Zero lunged forward, his blade high over his shoulder.

"Insolent Fool!" The stranger shouted in a deep, excited voice as he too, began to change his appearance. But unlike Zero, he does not wear a belt buckle or even a Rider suit. His entire body was distorted, changing into a menacing figure.

Wearing a white and black headdress now with a naked, gray body (ripped to be exact), the figure resembled closely to a sphinx with a lion face. The whip also changed its shape as well, splitting into two circular-shaped spiked ring.

Although unknown to Hamano, Zero knew that weapon more than anyone else. In those huge burly hands of the Chariot Arcana was a pair of Chakram, a weapon fitting to his long ranged-to-close combat style.

'Clang!'

Metal against metal, huge rain of yellow sparks dances wildly along the edges where both forces have collided. The impact was strong enough to throw both of them back half a step, but their weapons quickly exchanged blows in less than a fraction of second.

Because of his dual-wielding nature, the Chariot was able to use one of his Chakram to deflect the Chalister, while the other one uses the opportunity to cut across Zero's plates. Despite losing some ground, Kureno Hiro refused to back away as he sprinted along the sides and swung his feral-looking blade.

To the eyes of Hamano Itoe, it was like a re-enactment of the Meiji Shrine incident. But even so, there was a stark difference between both parties' strength.

Back when Zero was confronting the Goat-beast, Hamano had an uneasy feeling that Zero could be fighting a pointless match because of the way the Beast portrayed itself in the match. The Beast was confident and even had the time to anticipate and intercept whatever moves that Zero threw.

But this fight was not the same case for the Sphinx-man. Unlike the Goat-beast, the Chariot was giving his best in the fight, raining strikes over strikes at the struggling Rider. The Chariot was merciless with his blows and in fact, he was rather enjoying the onslaught.

'Clang, chink, clang!'

The collision of both parties' strength rang through the air; one louder than the other. Barely grazed by one of the ring-shaped weapon, Zero managed to regain his ground in time to deliver a counter-attack. But it was easily deflected by a twirl of the Chariot's circular blade.

"It's a disgrace that Tower did not bring you back that day. I shall do the honors of cleaning his mess!" The Chariot smirked as he managed to restrict the Chalister's movement by locking the blade in between the gaps of the Chakram.

"Now regret!" The Sphinx Chariot shouted as he swung the other Chakram across the body of Zero.

'Splish!'

It was a clean cut. A deep line was embedded along Zero's chest plate by the prowess of his opponent. Hiro felt extreme nausea and vertigo as his mind almost drove him into a state of shock. Flying through the air with the speed of a fast motorbike, the Kamen Rider sunk himself into the concrete wall, creating a huge blast of hole around him.

'No, it's not over...not now!' Hiro thought to himself as he struggled his way out of the cracked walls which he created. His arms were shaking to the extent that he could barely grip his Chalister properly. He was running out of option. Although he knew he had to be prepared after the encounter with Tower, he never expect himself to face the Chariot in such short notice.

His body had barely recovered from the fight with Tower and he regretted using the 'Canis' on the Minor suit as well. Because of that, it would take some time for him to even use the move again. Driven to the corner, Kureno Hiro could only think of one last option.

_That_ move.

But if he were to use _that_, his existence may very well be threatened. Sinking the Chalister onto the ground as support, Zero turned his attention to the frightened Hamano who was hiding at a corner observing the fight. He needed to take into consideration of her safety too. And the only solution now was to use _that _move and retreat. Hiro bit his lips and tried hard to meditate for an alternative.

"I understand now." The Chariot said. Zero was taken aback by the answer. 'Understand...what?', Hiro thought.

"I see the reason that you do not fight properly is because of that girl over there." He pointed his Chakram at Hamano.

"No...this is bad...Hamano! Run!" Zero yelled to the schoolgirl as he pulled his sword up to combat again. Hamano thought that it could all be over now. She could feel the murderous intent flowing out of the Sphinx's words. She wanted to run but she could not. Hamano was too scared to even move. Her legs grew weak as she slid to the floor, staring blankly at the Chakram-holding Spinx.

"So I shall do you the favor of relieving the burden by...eliminating her!" Chariot shouted with vigor as he flicked the twirling Chakram that was around his finger towards her. Hamano's eyes were onto the approaching blade. Soon, she would be sliced away through her neck, she thought.

'Slick!'

"Harrrgh!"

But who knew that before her very eyes, a figure stood there unmoving with his face just centimeters away from hers. His back was fully exposed to the wrath of the Chakram as it stuck deeply onto the back of Kureno Hiro. The Rider suit shatters away from him as blood trailed down from the side of his lips.

Using all the strength he had, Hiro was able to reach out to Hamano in time before the Chariot's attack on her could be granted. And because of his rescue, the Rider armor broke down from the devastating strike, leaving Hiro standing in front of Hamano in his human form.

The Chakram was still perched onto his back.

Hamano could not believe her eyes. She was terrified beyond belief as her mouth gaped open, her body trembling upon the tattered figure of the man that she had just scolded not long ago. This was the second time that he had saved her. Her eyes followed the dripping crimson drops that landed onto the soiled earth.

'Was it because of her that Hiro was hurt this badly?' She thought. If so, she was terribly guilty about the words she had said before. Then she remembered the time where Hiro asked Hikari-san to prevent her from leaving the shop. If she had only listened to him, maybe; just maybe, that Hiro would have won the match without worrying for her safety.

"H-Hiro..." She cried out, tears rolling down her red cheeks.

Instead of blame, Hiro smiled at her, relieved that she was saved. He did it. He managed to save another human.

'I'm glad you're safe...' Hiro said in his mind. Then, rotating his wrist, he ascertained himself that the Chalister was still in his hands.

Now, it was the time for him to use _that_ move.

Channeling all his remaining energy into the Chalister, a faint, dark light lit up along the inscriptions of the blade; a far contrast from the red lights that he would gain from the Voids he slain. Because of that, Hiro could felt something strong forcing out of his heart.

A rampaging beast that was locked in him thrashed about in his mind.

'Not...now!' Hiro tried to control himself as he allowed the dark light to travel its way towards the tip of the Chalister's blade.

When the last light was lit, a strange sound echoed through the wind.

_**'Grrrrrowllgrrrgrowlgrrrowlgr owl...Arrrrrr-uuuuuuuuuuuu!' **_The Chalister repeated itself like a broken mixtape, the voice was a far cry from the ancient and wise tone that it once had.

Hamano began to observe changes with Hiro's look as well. His eyes were beginning to dye a deep red with long black vertical lines as his pupil. Fangs were slowly protruding out of his mouth as his hand which held the Chalister glowed a dark aura.

Turning away from Hamano, Kureno Hiro directed his attention at the shocked Chariot as he held the Chalister up diagonally.

"Grrrrrrrrrraaaaaaaggggghhhhh hhhh!" Hiro howled as he swung his blade at the direction of the Chariot. A dark pulse in the shape of a huge, wolf sprouted out of the Chalister as it leaped towards its prey.

There wasn't time for the Chariot to escape as he quickly withdrew the Chakram from Hiro's back to him and using both weapons, he tried to fend off the menacing blow. A huge shock wave pulsed out from the collision.

The Chariot was blinded by the light as he tried to shut his eyes away. He had never expected the Kureno Hiro that he once knew to have this much strength in him. As the light slowly fade away, the Chariot moved his eyes towards the crumbling field.

As expected, they managed to escape without a trace. The Chariot had already knew that during the blinded moment then. He could feel the presence of another figure intruding their fight as that very person took Kureno Hiro and the girl away.

Angry at the thought of letting his target escape, the Chariot turned himself back to the husky human form, his eyes narrowed with gritted teeth.

* * *

About 30 minutes later, Hamano was sitting inside one of the rooms of Gothic 109. Lying on the bed beside her chair was Kureno Hiro, sleeping peacefully without a sound. His entire upper body was wrapped with a white bandage.

Hamano was still pretty badly shaken from what she had experienced just now. Because of Hiro's rescue, he was gravely wounded on his back. But then, something happened inside his body as his face changed into someone more terrifying than the Goat-beast or the Sphinx-man as he unleashed a huge blast at his opponent before breaking down into unconsciousness.

But thanks to the sudden appearance of Hikari, they managed to get away from the scene and thus ended up in one of her cafe's V.I.P room. Hikari mentioned about leaving the shop to settle some stuff and advised Hamano to stay in the room until she comes back. Hamano complied to it and even if she did not, she could not find the heart to leave the wounded Hiro alone.

Her mind was etched with the image of his crimson eyes and menacing expression. It was completely not the Hiro she was staring at now. She could not stop blaming herself.

'It was all her fault', she chanted over and over again in her heart. Clutching tightly to her skirt, Hamano could not help but cry out of guilt.

* * *

At the same playground that the huge battle took place just moments before was the Chariot sitting on the swing. He still could not except the fact that he lost sight of his prey. His finger dug into his palm as he tightened up his fist so much that he could felt a tint of moisture in between them.

So close, so close was he in completing the mission.

"Ho ho~ you were so close to victory." A voice said in a cheerful tone behind him.

"Do not make me kill you." The Chariot retorted.

"If you like, I can spare you one of my pet _Suits._" The voice paid no heed to his threat.

"You mean that crappy piece of Fox that Zero killed just now? It would be more of a hindrance to me." He replied, standing up from the swing. "Anyways, I don't need your help, or anyone's."

"Ah, I see. Suit yourself then. But be warned, Chariot-kun,"

The voice caught Chariot's attention, but he refused to meet eyes with the figure.

"I foresee a grave plight in your light." The figure said with a smirk. The Chariot was bothered by the words but that was unusual of his character. But because of the peculiar background of the messenger, he could not help but feel doubts in his heart as he walked away, the whip wrapped around his bleeding palm.

* * *

**Author's Note:**

**Awesome! The sense of accomplishment have never felt so incredible! **

**A huge thank you for all you readers who have supported, favorited, subscribed and reviewed Kamen Rider Zero! I do hope that this chapter has created many questions, as well as anticipation towards the grave situation of Kureno Hiro, as well as the discouraging words said to The Arcana. **

**Well now, I guess I will need to stop my typing too. Thank you once again for your support and look forward to my next chapter!**


	7. Reading 7

**Kamen Rider Zero**

**Reading 7: Zero versus Chariot, the deciding factor**

'Chiiiing'

The clarity of the door chimes resonated lightly as Miharu Hikari entered into one of her cafe rooms in 'Gothic 109'. Carrying a plastic bag with some croissant and cookies, Hikari walked over to the corner of the room as she handed a piece of bread towards the quiet Hamano Itoe. Sitting there without a bit of sound, Hamano's eyes were fixed on the sleeping Hiro.

It has been close to two days now, and it was worrying to see that Hiro has not move slightly at all. Hamano would just sit there without leaving his side as she pondered over her guilty thoughts, praying to see at least a bit of movement through Hiro's body.

Not receiving any reply from the quiet schoolgirl, the boss of the cafe gave a dejected sigh as she waltzed her way towards the velvet couch just opposite Hamano. The whirling of the ceiling fan and the ticking clock was the only sound that created a bit of life in the room.

But Hikari could not blame her. After all, Hamano was traumatized by the events of the Rider that saved her, Zero, and his opponent, Chariot. And because of a moment of folly on her side, she paid the ultimate price of mortally wounding the Rider who saved her, Hiro. It was definitely too much for a young girl like her to be going through them. There wasn't a way for Hikari to cure those scars.

Perhaps, time may soothe the wound somehow, Hikari thought.

In the imperturbable room that was only allowed access to Hamano and Hikari, there was a looming question that Hamano wished to have it answered, even if it meant a bad deed to delve into Hiro's history. Clutching onto the ends of her skirt, Hamano hesitated whether to ask, or not at all. But Hikari had already anticipated her thoughts.

"Speak away." Hikari said, nibbling on the butter croissant that she took from her cafe's kitchen. Hamano looked up with a surprised look as she had never expected Hikari to even say those words. Reassuring herself, Hamano finally opened her mouth for the first time since two days ago.

"Erm...about Kureno-san...why was he being marked by those...monsters?" Hamano fidgeted around, her palms clasped together with interlocking fingers. "I mean...what do they mean when they asked for him to return to them?..." Pacing her words quicker, Hamano could not help but pour out her questions one after another without even waiting for an answer. "Were they...connected somehow?" She finally finished asking the burning question in her heart.

Shocked by her sudden train of words, Hamano gasped as she covered her mouth, worried that Hikari may get angry about it. But rather, Hikari showed no surprise or interest as she took another bite off the croissant.

"Do you really want to know the answers?" Hikari's question to Hamano left her stumped. "Because if you do; and depending on your thinking, I may or may not have you come back again to see him." Her eyes showed not a bit of waver as they looked into the young girl's eyes.

"Forever." She whispered out the last word with a tint of threat. Of course, Hamano had never expected such answer. Could it be that his past was something that should not be touched upon? Hamano furrowed her brows as she looked away for awhile to consider her thoughts. Should the answer be something that was completely out of her control, would she be able to handle the truth?

After a few seconds of thinking, Hamano's eyes traced back to Hikari's as she nod strongly without a word. She might be seeing things, but she thought she saw Hikari smiled a little like she was relieved at her answer. Pushing back to the comfortable seat, Hikari swallowed the last bite of her bread.

"Kureno Hiro was once part of their group." Hikari said it casually. This was the same conclusion that Hamano was able to gather from those encounters she had came across.

"What is this group he was in?" Reading her thoughts out as though it has been thoroughly rehearsed, Hamano craned her body forward with full attention.

"I suppose you have not heard of a particular liberation organization called the 'Revolution'?"

Hamano shook her head weakly.

"The 'Revolution' is a low-profile group that is being run by the sole de facto leader; the 'World'. Their motto is to bring a new era rid of filth and corruption. Within the group consisted mainly people of many talent; all of them being brought up from a young age to fight, assassinate, and kill...all so to rid the world full of people which the leader condemned as 'filth'," She paused for a moment.

"Kureno Hiro was once part of them...as well as being one of the more outstanding agent within the group." Hikari said it as slowly as possible for Hamano to grasp the load of information. Blinking her eyes, Hamano could feel her heart skipped a bit from Hikari's dark confession.

"He was a cold, ruthless man when it comes to completing his mission. Never once did he blinked or hesitate to kill anyone that stood in his way. He thought that what he was doing was for the greater good. Sacrificing the minority for the benefits of the majority, that was his thinking. But because of another particular agent that worked alongside him, something stirred in his heart. He was slowly beginning to question the missions given by his leader. Suspecting that this change of character in Hiro was the deeds of his partner agent," Hikari bit her lips, her eyes looked solemn as she could not help but looked away from Hamano.

"The 'World' ordered an assassination mission on the agent's head, unknown to Kureno Hiro. With the loss of his partner, Kureno Hiro was driven to depression and hatred consumed him. Eventually, he broke off from the Organization, along with the Pentacle driver that he had stolen from them to become the Kamen Rider Zero that you had witnessed. Meditating his thoughts out, Kureno Hiro figured that perhaps the only way to bring the world towards a better future was to rid the 'Revolution' and their leader, along with the ideals that they chose to believe."

Finally, it was all beginning to make sense now. The fight with Chariot, his red eyes and the menacing aura...it was the true colors of Hiro's past. Hamano's mind was full of many mixed feelings and thoughts after the long talk with Hikari.

_"You're rude. From what I heard from Kenta, Kamen Riders are supposed to be much, much nicer than you!"  
_

_"Kamen Riders are supposed to be righteous, polite, helpful, caring, friendly and take pride in their job. They are responsible with their actions but all those qualities...I see not one bit in you!"_

Those words that she had said to him before flashed in her mind as she regretted her actions terribly. She had judged him too quickly without even knowing Hiro's dark past. All along, Hiro has been fighting and struggling by himself against his odds. But now that Hamano was enlightened, she knew that she had to apologize and even make up to him for the wrongs she had given Hiro. Hamano remained quiet after the talk, her head hung low as Hikari sat there, her eyes cast upon the ceiling.

After a while, Hikari stood and straightened her pants.

"I will leave you to sort your thoughts out. Meanwhile, let me know if Hiro has woken, alright?" Saying so, she made her way out of the door. The light foot steps eventually stopped after the door creaked back to a close.

Hamano just sat there quietly as no one could listen to the thoughts that was running through her mind.

* * *

"Hrgggg..."

My eyes squints as I cover them with my arm from the trace of light. As the surrounding slowly reveals itself, I find myself staring blankly at the twirling ceiling fan. Where am I and what happened just now? Forcing myself to recollect my memories, the last thing that I remembered was seeing the face of that annoying school girl.

Slowly, I can feel the strength recovering in my body as I try to push myself up from the soft mattress. My fingers trace along the fresh sheet of white wrapped around my body. A part of my body still feel sore from the fight I had with Chariot-

"Arghh" I struggle to stand on my two feet as a sharp pain shoots through my abdomen.

How long have I been asleep to feel such soreness?

Unable to balance myself at first, I grab firmly to the bed frame as I slowly lift my legs to get a feel of the ground. After observing the room for a while, I realized that I am in one of Hikari's cafe rooms, most probably the only suite she have for tourists to stay over for a night if they had wanted to. The annoying girl does not look to be in here as well.

Navigating my way to the area where Hikari would most probably keep my personal belongings at, I quickly cloth myself with the Pentacle secured safely on my neck. Switching the watch display to the 'Wand', my eyes fixed itself on the shaking needle that seems to come from the same area that Chariot once appeared at. I need to hurry there before anything bad happens! Grabbing to the knob, I pull it open forcefully,

-and saw my stalker standing in front of me. Here we go again, I guess.

"I'm in a hurry so please..."

"I'm sorry for causing you trouble." Her words interrupted mine as she quickly gave a bow. Wait, is this a dream? This isn't the girl that I remembered, the one who stalked with piercing eyes before...what happened to her?

"Am I dreaming?"

'Punch!'

"Hrrrrgaah?!" A searing pain shoot into my gut as I bit my lips from yelling out. Is this girl blind?!

"I hope that answers your question." She shoots a glare towards me. "Anyways, I am here to tell you that I will not disturb you regarding my friend's condition anymore."

"Okay...-huh?"

"I should not have said those hurtful words to you. I hope to take them back and in return, I will support you in your fight against those monsters! As a Kamen Rider fan, I shall place my pride and trust to you!" She bows again, leaving me lost for a moment. I wonder what have happened during the time that I was sleeping...or maybe it was Hikari's doing..?

But putting that aside, I can't help but feel relieved upon hearing those words. It felt sincere and real. What is this light feeling in my chest...am I smiling, relieved, encouraged?

"Thank you." Resting my palm on her head, I put on a cool front as I walk down the corridor with his hand raised as though to say 'I'll be back real soon'.

Before I leave the cafe, my eyes caught sight of Hikari resting at the counter humming to her usual cheery tune.

"Leaving already?" She asks. Stopping my feet for a moment, I turn to her and offered a smile.

"Whatever you just said to her, I appreciate it."

"Fufu~ I have no idea what you're talking about." Hikari raises her shoulder and shake her head playfully. I can't help but laugh as I make my way out, the Lone Wolf greeted my eyes to say that he's ready to rev up.

* * *

As I see myself approaching the location, I pull out my Pentacle and chanted the familiar words,

"Henshin!"

"_**Thou Shalt Summon...Thy Fool!" **_Donning into the suit, I see that Chariot has been waiting for me all this time.

"So you've finally came. And I thought you wouldn't survive." He says, arms already holding on to the pair of Chakrams.

"After knowing me for so long, is this how much you've belittled me?" I retorted, leaping out of the bike and hammering the Chalister down onto him from mid-air. As expected, he skillfully pushed it away and I landed onto the ground, blade held at waist height.

"Kamen Rider Zero... And your fate has been read."

"Let's settle this once and for all." I offered.

"My thoughts exactly." The Chariot accepted without question. Twirling both Chakrams with high intensity, he leaped towards me. "I shall see you off to the light!"

Kicking the ground, I too accelerated forward as I clashed toe to toe against the intimidating Sphinx. A gust of wind sparked from our confrontation as we continuously pushed for more ground against one another.

"If this is the strength of your ideals, you have disappointed me greatly!" Chariot shouted, retreating his steps to create a distance between us. He started to sprint left, and I followed. Using the swings as his footing, he vaulted across the seat, feet first onto my chest.

The impact sent my body backwards across the sandy ground. I picked my body up and raised the Chalister once more. Taking a deep breath in, my legs carried me forward as my arms retracted back. The moment I saw the chance, I pushed my arms over in a horizontal arc, the edges of my blade scratches wildly across his bare-body. With gritted teeth, Chariot took the pain in and pulled out a left hook with the disc in hand.

Lowering my sword down, I quickly kick my body up with the tip of the blade aiming for his chest.

'Chink!'

Just like our previous fight, Chariot moved his Chakram through my blade, the silver edge of the Chlister swallowed through the many gaps of his bladed disc. With a tug, he had my sword locked down, its movement stopped. I, however, had already seen this coming. It's been on my mind ever since the huge disadvantage it caused me in the previous fight.

Before the move was completed however, I twisted the spiked edge of my sword against the rim of his circular weapon.

"What?"

As he gasped, I jerked the Chalister back, along with the Chakram that was hooked along. Now with an upper hand, I pull the Chakram out and twisted on my hips, hurling the weapon back at him as forcefully as possible. As it spun with high velocity, a loud humming sound shook the air.

'Chank!'

In a panic, Chariot quickly drew his other disc up to stop the blow as the pair flew up high upon impact. Tapping the Pentacle, my token was summoned onto my palm as I threw it into the Chalice.

"Such petty tricks to use my own weapon against-"

'Zzzuuub'

"-me...?" The Chariot stuttered over his last word as he looked down at the Chalister that was pierced through his body. Glowing a luminous white light, the sword echoes out,

"_**Zero...Howww-uwl!" **_

"Hargh!" Chariot tried to push his away, but I quickly pierced the Chalister deeper through him. "When did you become...this strong?" Chariot said weakly as he spat crimson blood onto the ground beside me.

"You will never understand even if I tell you."

"Heh...is this the power of that nonsensical thing that humans hold on to so tightly? That...bond?"

"This is...goodbye, ex-comrade." I said in a solemn tone.

"I'll never believe you. The 'Revolution' shall rise in due time."

"Canis...Rush."

The brilliant light of the Chalister shone brightly as the force of the blow destroyed Chariot from inside, leaving a pile of white ash over the floor that he stood.

On the peak of it laid a token in the shape of a Wheel, concluding the duel between him and me.

* * *

**Author's Note:**

**The end of 'The Chariot' arc, finally! After years of training, Zero has finally destroyed the first Arcana and along with the trust from Hamano, I believe that Zero will grow stronger as he face the obstacles straight on!**

**How did you guys think of this chapter? I hope that with Hikari's words, some of your questions may have been answered regarding Hiro's past. If you have any questions, feel free to PM me and alternatively, drop a review below to let me know what you think about the story thus far!**


	8. Reading 8

**Kamen Rider Zero**

**Reading 8: The katana sensei**

"Chariot's dead." Tower said calmly as he hung himself onto a bar upside-down with two weights that massed up to 20kg each strapped onto his arms. To some, it may be crazy to even do such extensive workouts but for Tower, this was barely any tough at all. Calmly flexing his torso, he curled his body up and started meditating through his workout.

Sitting above the stairs of the mansion which resided the agents of the 'Revolution' were a pair of man and woman; both exuding a royal aura around them. And because of the radiant sunlight which crept through the frosted glasses shone on their back, it felt as though they were both beings who descended from heaven itself.

But if there really beings from another plane, then they would not be the angels. Rather, they fitted the role of the little devils themselves. They were unfazed at the sudden news, their mouths chewing onto their breakfast which consisted bacon, sausages and bagels.

Swallowing down his food, the man picked the serviette from the table and wiped his mouth gently as he prepared to speak.

"Why am I not surprised."

"Because it's a fact that this will happen sooner or later, no?" The lady beside him replied as she placed her utensils on the table gently.

"Impulsiveness leads to imminent destruction. A lesson that should be drilled into him." The man continued those emotionless words.

"But it will not work on him anyways. Isn't that why the 'World' gave him the nickname of 'Chariot' to begin with?"

"Perhaps. But that aside, we should not think too much about his death, lest we overestimate our foolish friend."

"He's a fool to be waging a war." The lady smiled wryly.

"Because he is." Tower's words cut into their conversation as he lifted his upper body over to touch his knee to mark the hundredth count. Finishing, he swung his body with the force from his calf, somersaulting in the air and landed on the marble floor lightly. He was not perspiring much. Even though he could do more, Tower chose not to as he walked down the hallway leaving the sight of the owners of this little mansion;

Emperor and Empress.

* * *

'Puuuuuuvv!'

I gasp for air, choking onto my own cup of coffee while I sit at the corner of Hikari's cafe. The feeling was terrible as I can't make up my mind whether to laugh or be supportive of the words that I have just heard.

"What's that reaction for!" Hamano stands up pouting her lips as she smacks my head with a textbook which teaches the techniques for self-defense and etiquette of a katana wielder.

"You want to learn how to fight?" I ask, taking a piece of serviette from the table to wipe away the mess that I have made. Hikari sits beside us, giggling away at the slapstick comedy that we are making out of our discussion; although that was how it started.

It has been a few days since my victory over one of the 'Revolution' agents, Chariot. I have also recovered almost to the pink of health with the help of Hikari...and Hamano.

_"I should not have said those hurtful words to you. I hope to take them back and in return, I will support you in your fight against those monsters! As a Kamen Rider fan, I shall place my pride and trust to you!" _

Funnily enough, ever since that day where she said those words to me, it seems like the barrier which separates us from standing in the same ground has been lifted. We began to talk more casually, like friends. Especially when she knows my identity, as well as some of my past.

The cafe is quite empty today and it's not a surprise since it's the weekdays. The regulars usually frequent the cafe only during the afternoons or weekends. Unknowingly, the hangout that I usually visit is slowly beginning to become one of Hamano's new haunt.

"Of course! As the member of the Kamen Rider Club, I should at least learn the basics of combat so that I can assist you whenever you need!" She says with eyes full of determination as she poses a stance of a person wielding a katana. "And besides, if I work alongside you, I will be able to learn a lot more about how a Kamen Rider lives his life and I can share them all with Kenta when he wakes up!" She says cheerily, unaffected by mentioning the name of her unconscious friend.

Or maybe she still is a bit affected, just that she's trying hard not to think too much about it. No matter,

"No way. You'll just be a bother to me." I reply flatly while picking up a piece of cookie from the table. But before I could even figure out what happened, I felt a hand curled around my neck as I suffocated from the sudden lack of air. I looked up to see Hamano's angry face as she unrelentingly tried to murder me!

"You're evil!" She shouted.

"Yu arre te evil...one!" I can only barely say the words under the mercy of her arms. Eventually, she releases me as I take in huge breaths to soothe my lungs.

"My, my...you guys are certainly becoming the best of friends." Hikari says with her hand resting on her lips. I grumbled and slouched onto the sofa again as I rest my eyes a bit, completely ignoring Hikari's words.

"Hey Hiro." Hamano says. "You have a bike, right? All Kamen Riders have one."

"So what of it?" I reply. Suddenly, it seems like we are talking normally again, without Hamano's wrath incurring on me.

"What's the name of your bike? How fast does it go?" Slowly, Hamano starts to pour the questions out as I finally give in and sit up properly, eyes wide open at her. With her around, it seems even harder to take a proper nap here.

"Why are you so interested?" I asked.

"Can you give me a ride? To the Kendo class in the park." She said happily, pointing to a brochure that she took from her bag.

I have a creepy feeling that I just can't reject her...

* * *

Behind the mansion which resided the agents laid a hidden path only known to them. It was at least 20 feet and at the other end of the tunnel was a research lab. Behind those doors were filled with bottles of different colored liquids and body parts of animals. Equipments took up almost half the space with drawings attached all over the wall. Sitting behind the desk was the man behind the creations of the Minor Suits...

Teriuhi Ando.

"Have you heard about Chariot's downfall?" Behind the shadows of the room was a certain beautiful lady seated at one of the research tables. Only her long, slender legs shone under the faint lights of the room. Her features were absolutely stunning, one that can even be compared to an Angel.

"Oh yes...I did warn him after all." Unfazed, the man laughed as he continued to scribble formulas and equations all over his paper. "Hiro-chan certainly is an interesting character to be researching on." His pen stopped mid-way as Teriuhi Ando looked up with a mischievous smile on his face. "I say...Rei-chan, aren't you supposed to be out there fulfilling the 'Majesties' orders?"

"I have never cared about those dull missions. After all, my only plan is to win back _his _heart." The lady replied, her tongue sticking out to lick the side of her cherry lips.

"Ha ha, how can I forget? Do you need a hand, or a Suit to assist you?" Teriuhi Ando continued with his scribbling again, his other hand tracing along the top of his black, bowler hat.

"I will not refuse, unlike that stubborn geezer." She smiled and stood up from her seat, her delicate hands adjusting the long, red dress that she wore – purposely exposing her beautiful left leg through the cut. Trailing her fingers through those silky, black hair of hers, the lady known as Rei slowly walked out of the room, her high-heels clicked lightly against the tiles.

Teriuhi Ando did not see her off. He did not need and he does not practice it anyways. He was one full of mystery for no one has ever tried to figure out the complex thinking and intricate behavior of his. For that, the 'World' has decided to grant him a facility for whatever plans he intend to do with it. And because of that, he managed to experiment upon the human bodies and their genetics, further breeding them into the Minor Suits that the Agents uses as their henchmen.

When the doors to his research lab closed itself with a click, he raised his up and turned to the side with his eyes fixed upon the silver suit-case lying on the table. On the surface of the case was two letters; one smaller than the other;

'F-**X' **

Admiring the suitcase from a distance, his heart stirred with excitement as he looked forward to seeing his plans evolving into the next phase.

* * *

"This is the place!" Hamano pats her hand over and over again on my shoulder as I bring the Lone Wolf to a halt. Switching off the engine, I alighted the bike and peer over the wide stretch of the greens of Yoyogi park. The smell of fresh air breezes past as the sounds of children running through the field echoes in the serene park.

Not far from here, just next to a basketball court was a group of 10, all dressed up in a white gi. In unison, they swing the wooden sticks that they are armed with down to the ground, repeating the steps through the command of the man in front of them.

"Hah! Return, attention, down!" The man who looked around the age of mine drilled the words continuously as he led his students through the training. Upon closer look, his students are mostly male teenagers with excellent athletic build. Not to be sexist but after all, it is an art that interests guys more than girls – which must explain his class' gender ratio. Hamano doesn't seem to mind at all as she skips down the steep slope and onto the soft grasses towards them.

"H-hey! Wait up." I shout for her, slowly making my way down the park. Just how much energy does that girl have in her? The entire group stopped their training as they looked to us with a confused exchange of eyes. Before I even reached there, I can already hear the voices of Hamano's.

"Why can't I learn from you?" Hamano demands, crushing the piece of brochure in her hands. I give a resigned sigh, walking my way over to them. Sometimes, seeing how Hamano acts makes me suspect whether she is indeed a girl or not. The man whom Hamano was talking looks up to me and then back at her.

"You are too rude. You lack manners, etiquette and..." He paused at the last word just as I joined them.

"...and?" Hamano speaks softly, a far cry from the burst of energy that she once portrayed not long ago. I can see the look of hesitation in his eyes as he pondered over whether to say it out or not. As the cooling wind breezes past me, my ears twitched, attracting my attention to the playground not far from here.

People are running amok down the hills and away. Narrowing my eyes, I try to see what's the commotion about and there, a figure was being chased by a Suit! The suit resembled a rhinoceros head with leather plated armor. I quickly nudged for Hamano's attention and she gasped, grasping hold of the situation quickly. Shinji and the others turned as well to the center of attraction. It is not before long that they have realized what has happened.

"A m-m-monster!" One of them shouted, fumbling around to grab their katanas in a defensive stance.

"Hamano, bring them to safety and I'll clear away the Minor Suits and Voids." I quickly asked, patting her on the shoulder. Changing from that depressed behavior before, Hamano nods her head and ran towards the other students.

"Let's get out of here quickly!" Everyone heard it and hurriedly packing their bags and fled in the direction that Hamano has led them. I stand there silently as I make sure that no one is left behind. By now, all of them have evacuated the area quickly, all except Shinji; who stands calmly with a katana wielded. His face showed no fear and our eyes met.

"What's your name." I asked.

"Shinji."

"You should run first, Shinji. That monster is not someone to be trifled with." I said.

"Says the man who arms himself with nothing but words and no action." He replies, swinging his katana skillfully beside him.

"I-" Without notice, Shinji charges forward with his Katana, attracting the attention of the Minor Suit and Voids! "Hey, I'm serious about this!" I shouted out angrily, pulling off the necklace bound around my neck. There is a fine line between being heroic and reckless; and he definitely belongs to the latter! There isn't time to lose as I prepare myself for the fight.

"Henshin!"

"_**Thou Shalt Summon...Thy Fool!"**_ Pulling the Chalister out of thin air, I ran towards the mad man as fast as I can. The Voids sprung into attack as well, separating both Shinji and me apart.

"Kamen Rider, Zero!" I yelled, slaying away the closes Void to me.

"What?" Shinji exclaimed with a bewildered look but even so, he promptly turned his attention back at the oncoming Voids. Fighting with his Katana against the metallic staffs, Shinji portrayed his swordplay skillfully without even faltering for a second. The look on his face showed only the determination to win this fight.

'Clad, Thuk, Thuk!'

Even though Shinji's weapon was only made of wood, he relentlessly rain those strikes of his at the Voids, dodging based on his instincts and disarming them without difficulty.

"Well now, that's a fine specimen..." The Suits says, slowly making its way towards the unsuspecting Shinji, only to be stopped by the edge of my Chalister that rests upon its throat. "And who might you be?" It says, backing a step and pushing the sword away. Kicking the ground, I pull myself closer to it as I throw a punch into its face.

"I won't repeat twice!" I yelled and swing the sword using my torso's speed. But before I can even cut it into its body, the blade bounces off upon impact with the leather on its skin. "What?" I try again, this time aiming for its legs. But it bounces off again, much to my surprise. Compared to the earlier Suits, the strength of this particular one far exceeds its predecessors!

"Hah! Your blunt strikes means nothing to me!" Curling its fist, the Minor Suit thrusts its powerful arms into my gut as I fly across the sky onto the soft patches of grass. Not before long, Shinji crashes beside me with a loud 'thud'. Wincing from the pain, he tries to stand, but quickly falls flat down again. His katana was badly destroyed with only a quarter of it still in his hands.

"I've told you to run, didn't I?" I scolded, picking myself up with the Chalister's support.

"Not when it is rampaging through the area harming the innocents!" Shinji replied. "And besides, I do not turn tail from a fight!" He looked at me, this time his feelings could be felt behind those eyes of his. It felt as though he was protecting something, or someone...and he was prepared to risk his life.

"I see..but my reason is far greater than yours." I said, tapping the Pentacle to summon a piece of token into my hands. Shinji looks up, confused at my words. Holding on to the Wheel-shaped token, I looked down at Shinji and then towards the Rhino-suit. "I fight...to protect everyone."

Throwing the piece of token into the Chalice of the sword, an orange light shines from the cup as the Chalister processed the new token into it. Then, the voice of the sword spoke,

"_**Zero, Let's Riii-de!" **_The Chalister envelops itself into a veil of light, splitting the body into halves and then distorting themselves into a circular shape. Gripping tightly onto both halves, the veil breaks away; revealing a pair of orange Chakrams with silver metallic trims around the edge. Both my chest plate and belt buckle changes its number into the roman numeral, 'VII', as well.

"No matter what weapon you use, it's not gonna cut through me!" The Rhino yells, galloping on all fours towards me. I raise the Chakrams in front of me as I press my thumbs onto the button around the grip. The spiked edges of the Chakrams roars into life as it spins wildly like a trailing orange light.

As soon as I am within range, I swing both weapons in an overlapping 'X', this time slicing cleanly onto the Suit's protruding horns that's stuck onto its head.

"Arrrgh!" It roars, retreating it's steps as it stands up again, grabbing onto its remaining half of the horn. "My Rhino-hood!" It screams out. I leap forward and deliver another few cuts onto its body, breaking off its armor to reveal only the hides of the Minor Suit. Pushing back my distance, I held out the Chakrams and threw them towards the remaining Voids, slicing through cleanly before they came back to my hands, forming into the Chalister once more.

"_**Zero, Chann-ccee!" **_The Chalister glows in red as I raise it above my head, hands gripped tightly around the hilt.

"W-wait! This is unfair!" The Minor Suits pleads with its knees on the ground.

"Twilight...Break!" I shouted as I delivered the fatal strike, splitting the skies into half before bringing the destruction of the Suit. As I swing the Chalister into a cross, the Rider amour breaks away to reveal my human body again. The park is safe again, my head turns to the back to find the injured Shinji,

But he is nowhere in sight.

* * *

**Author's Note:**

**Thank you for all the kind reviews and subscribes from all of the readers out there! I can't say that I have the motivation to write on without your awesome support! With so many ideas to write out, sometimes I feel so overwhelmed that I do not know where to begin...**

**Ha ha, anyways, do remember to drop a review on your thoughts about this story and look out for the next chapter!**


	9. Reading 9

**Kamen Rider Zero**

**Reading 9: A very bad sign**

In the dark room of one of Teriuihi Ando's research lab held the unconscious Shinji, his body trapped in a cylinder shaped capsule. The only light source was the cyan colored light glowing faintly above the door. Behind the room stood the Researcher and the lady, Rei, from before.

"So what do you plan to do with him?" The lady asked, her fingers trailing across the research desk piled with papers and books. "And you owe me a favor. I could have gotten what I wanted if not for your sudden change of plan." She said with a stare fixed at the man.

"Ha ha...all in due time, Rei-chan. After all, it's not my fault that his body carries the potential of an Arcana."

The words shocked Rei as her eyes narrowed, thinking whether should she believe his words. But it was hard to doubt him as well, seeing that his face always carried a mischievous smile whenever something, or someone, interests him.

"Arcana you say...? What makes you so sure? Only the 'World' decides whether he is worthy to be one."

"Of course, of course. I will never dream to be our creator. I could be wrong, you see. But to think that I have stumbled onto a fine specimen..." Teriuihi Ando looked through the glass that separates them and the unconscious man. "Do you want to partake in the journey to see my creation till the end?" He turned to ask Rei.

_'What could you be possibly planning to do?' _Rei thought as an unsettling feeling sunk in her chest. Although they have been acquaintances for a long time, but all those while, Rei could not help but be wary about the mysterious Teriuihi Ando. But she could be over-thinking the entire thing.

"No thank you. I would rather steer clear from your mischief." She turned around with her hair flowing behind her gracefully. She stopped for a moment, before walking out of the room. Teriuihi Ando smirks as the trace of Rei slowly disappeared from his sight. Tapping his index finger on his hat, he waltzed his way over to his drawer. He pulled it out and picked something from there.

In his hands held a token that looked like a star merged with two round circles behind it. He held it over his head, allowing the light to bathe over the token as it glimmers in front of him. Flipping the token up, he caught it with his other hand as he hums a minor tune, releasing the lock to the unconscious man.

"Ha ha~ Now then, let's start the opening act."

* * *

"What? Shinji's taken?" Hamano shouts at me as eyes of the public started to turn towards us. Right after the destruction of the Minor Suit, Shinji, the teacher of the Katana club, went missing without a trace whatsoever. By now, his students have already evacuated back to their homes and the park was quieter than before.

"You don't have to shout." I reply with a stare, massaging the side of my ears. She quickly bow to say a "Sorry" before looking around the park. "Anyways, let's go back to the cafe. Perhaps Hikari have seen something we didn't."

"Hikari?" She questions, following me towards the Lone Wolf.

The moment we stepped foot into the cafe, I led Hamano into Hikari's office. Even though it has been some time, the waiters and waitresses of the cafe sometimes still fixes their eyes at me, monitoring me to make sure that I do not 'betray' their boss...I guess it will take some more time before they get over it.

As I push the door open, Hikari is already sitting with the crystal ball in front of her.

"Hello Hikari-san! Ah, is that-?" Hamano speaks, her face in awe.

"Ah, I guess Hikari hasn't shown you this room yet." I say, scratching my temple.

"Fufu~ I'm what you can say; an Esper." Hikari smiles. "I've seen the fight just now between Hiro and the Minor Suit."

Hamano walks over to the seat beside Hikari as she marvels at the crystal ball in front of her. Maybe it's because you don't really get to a crystal ball anywhere nowadays; much less in a cafe. I walk over to the couch and rest my body on it.

"So, did you see anyone out there during the fight?" I ask. There was a moment of silence for awhile that I had to turn to see what's going on. Hikari's face revealed a bit of worry as Hamano peeks over to get a look at the crystal.

"Hey, there's a woman there! She took Shinji!" Hamano exclaimed, her arms in the air.

"Woman?" I questioned. Hikari looked over and gave a nod.

"I'm afraid that...Rei is around here as well." Hikari says, looking down with a crestfallen expression. I quickly got up and walked over to the viewing ball. My eyes immediately recognized the features of that lady in red dress. At one point of time, she looked upwards, as though to see through the ball to us. She smiled and walked away with Shinji helplessly dragged across the floor, both beings vanished without a trace.

"That woman, Rei...do you know her?" Hamano asked as she turned to me. I nodded.

"We have a...complicated relationship." I scratch my temple and take a look at my watch. Although the needle moves faintly, it is sign that a Suit is nearby. Perhaps, Rei is waiting over there as well. "She must be nearby. I'll be out for awhile."

"I'll watch from here. Be careful." Hikari says. "Or the next time you stay here, I'll charge you." She laughs as the entire atmosphere finally lightens up a little.

"I'll take note of that." I reply, smiling. Pulling the jacket down comfortably, I exit the shop and hopped onto my bike, once again heading out to face some Suits; and a 'friend'.

Down the districts near a residential school, the cries of helpless innocents echoes across the area as I speed up, the Lone Wolf roaring away. It was around the corner that another Minor Suit; a Shark-motif creature with greyish scales, came into sight, holding on to a teenage boy by the collar.

"Release him!" I yells, jumping off the bike delivering a headbutt towards the Suit.

"Arrgh!" The Shark flinches, throwing the boy onto the ground. The teary boy quickly picks himself up and scurries away, leaving only the two of us at the area. "Curses! Voids, get him!" The land before the Suit distorts and summons up the soulless fighters as they adhere to its wish.

Grabbing hold to my Pentacle, I quickly begin the transformation phase.

"Henshin!"

"_**Thou Shalt Summon...Theeee..." **_The voice breaks down midway through its sentence...but why?!

'Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud.'

Before I can even look ahead, the staff of one of the Voids strikes against my cheeks, sending me back a few meters away before crashing onto the concrete floor. The pain escalates through my back as I roll to my front and push myself up. This is not happening, why didn't the Pentacle work? Another Voids charges forward, swinging the weapon in a downward arc. I kick away and dodges to the side before another Void thrusts its weapon towards my gut.

"Buuargh!" I cough out, as my sight tumbles in a full 360 degree. I stand again in a deep breath, I decide to try the Pentacle once more.

"Henshin!" I shout, pushing the Pentacle towards the ground more forcefully than ever.

"_**Thou Shalt Summon...Theeee..."**_ Again, the voice broke down, followed by an incoming attack from the sides. Grabbing hold to the end of the staff, I jerk the weapon back with all my strength to pull the Void towards me. Stumbling a few steps in front of me, I throw a left kick towards the neck as it drops flat on the floor, unmoving.

I spit on the floor as I try to gather my thoughts. There isn't any use worrying about the malfunctioning Pentacle now. No matter what, I'll need to clear out these guys! I accelerate forward, my side of my vision blurs out with my eyes fixed on the enemies ahead. Swinging the staff around my body fluidly, I thrusts the tip of the weapon onto the gut of the Void, carrying it up in the air before I send it crashing towards the other two on my right.

Keeping the Staff behind my back, I take a quick scan around me. The wordless grumblings from the Voids grows louder as though they are panicking over the prowess of their enemy. The Shark Suit stands at the back clenching its fist shakily. With the length of this Staff, I should be able to push back the two Voids towards my left and at the same time, sweeping off the balance of the remaining one on the right.

Without the Pentacle's additional strength, a fight with a Minor Suit is still manageable, unlike facing an Arcana. For that, I'm glad that Rei is not around the area or else I'll be in a tight pinch in no time. Swinging the Staff in front of me, I grip my hands around both side of the weapon. My heart thumps as I count down to find the opening that I need.

"Haaahhh!" I pounce forward with a burst of adrenaline rush as I proceed with the strategy in mind. One after another, the Voids were too slow to even react to my attacks as they were smashed against the word before dropping onto the floor, bursting into white, polygon lights.

"What? What are you?" The Shark runs forward and throws a few strings of punches. Deflecting away the attacks with my Staff, I pull back and draw more ground between us.

Pulling back my left hand which held the Staff, I knelt down and kicked my body up, griping onto the lower bar with two hands next as I hammered the metallic stick across the Suit's face, sending the Shark rolling all the way to the bins behind. Rats scurries out from their hideouts as the Shark Suit had its head stuck into one of the straw baskets that's over there.

"Ow, ow! I can't see!"

I pull the Pentacle out of my pocket as I focus my thoughts. One more time, please let it work. I pray hard with shut eyes. My body slowly moved along the flow into the transformation pose I have always used.

"Henshin!"

"_**Thou Shalt Summon...Thy Fool!" **_It worked! The belt buckle formed on my waist as the magical light took over my body to bring out the suited knight. "Thou grants...thy Chalister!" I pulled out the golden-gray blade and wielded it in a back-hand fashion. The token of the Chariot materializes in my other hand as I threw the it into the golden cup.

"_**Zero...Let's Riii-de!" **_My armor replaced itself with streaks of orange around the shoulder and the Roman Numerals changed to 'VII'. The Chakram formed itself around both my palms as I grabbed the handle tightly. I could feel my energy flowing throughout my body again as my eyes fell upon the struggling Shark Suit. I clicked the buttons on the middle of the Chakram once, then twice. Spinning into life, the Chakram glows up in an orange swirl.

"_**Chariot, Rumble-rumble-rumble-rumble!"**_ I twirled both Chakrams around my finger as it generated more heat as more rotations were completed. By then, the Shark Suit was already on its ground, unclear over the situation.

"Wait, weren't you supposed to be some other color?" The Suit spoke, running towards me with open palms, claws protruding out of the tip of its finger. I too, dashed forth as I threw both bladed disc into the sky without losing sight of my opponent ahead. "What kind of aiming is that?" It laughed as it swung its claws towards my shoulder. I lowered my back and leaped towards the wall and performed a short burst of dash over its head.

"Shuriken..." I shouted as I kicked my feet off the wall, my body just a few meters above the Suit. Raising both my arms out, I caught hold of the returning Chakrams as I continued its intensified rotation around my index finger. The Shark Suit looked up, unknowing what to react.

"...Comet!" The name yelled out as I released my hold over the two disc, causing it to rain down onto the Shark Suit with a huge burst of orange flames. The two spinning discs then breaks away and formed itself into the Chalister that rested on my palm. Landing down onto my knees, I pushed my body up and swung the blade in a cross before changing out of the suit. As the Chalister shatters away into polygons, my hands move over to my neck and picked the Pentacle up.

My mind was heavy with thoughts about the Pentacle. Those instances where the Pentacle refused to function well...was it sending me a message? Dropping it back around my neck again, I looked up to the sky as I thought about the other Arcanas that I have yet to met. If my Pentacle was to truly stop working one day...what should I do?

"Baka." A feminine voice calls out to me as I turn around. There is only one person who will call me by that term; Rei. As expected, the lady in red dress; similar to the image on Hikari's crystal, stands before me, her hands rests on her hips. While I prepare to pull the Pentacle out to summon the Rider again, Rei raises her hand in open palm facing me.

"Relax, Baka-chan, I'm not here to fight...for now." She smiles sweetly, turning her eyes to the park that's above the hills.

"Let's catch up a bit, shall we?" She says, walking past me calmly, her heels clicking away. Furrowing my brows, I contemplated in my mind whether to follow her. But looking at her now, she does not seem to pose any threat.

Should she decide to ambush me later, I'll just have to deal with it and finish her off; provided that the Pentacle agrees to work again. It is risky to follow her but...perhaps talking to her will I be able to uncover more information about the remaining Arcanas residing here.

And maybe, she may shed some knowledge about the Pentacle.

After all, she is one of the three main creators who pioneered the Rider Belt System for the Organization.

The Arcana; Temperance.

* * *

******Author's Note:**

******Thank you readers once again for all your support and reviews! As the story goes to its tenth chapter, the plot slowly thickens, along with the writer's block in my head! I hope that the story is still interesting to you guys and if it bores you, do let me know why so I can improve on them!**


	10. Reading 10

**Kamen Rider Zero**

**Reading 10: The Pioneer's advice and the PentaDriver?**

The birds whistles as they landed on the tree branches, looking down at the nearby people. A cooling breeze blew across the park, the glimmering sun beating onto my skin as I followed the back of the red dress lady. The walk from the streets to the park took not more than fifteen minutes.

Throughout the entire journey, no words were exchanged as though we were just mere strangers walking down the same road. However, there were many instances where men and women alike would turn around to take a few extra looks at the elegant feminine figure.

Although the lady in front, Rei, looked completely harmless and defenseless to the eyes of the public; she is in fact one of the Arcana agents of the low-profile Organization known as 'Revolution'. Not only that, she was one of three main creators and engineers who've pioneered the Rider system, which is the Pentacle that I'm holding on to now.

As we reached the peak of the hill that showed the entire geological structure of Shibuya, Rei walked over to the bench just beneath the tree and took a seat. I stopped a few meters behind as I tucked both hands into my pocket. Another breeze of fresh air blew across the hill, the sounds of the cricket's little orchestra hummed throughout the park.

"Why don't you take a seat, Baka-chan?" Rei turns her head around slightly, her eyes briefly catching a glimpse of me. I walk forward a few steps more but stopped with just enough distance to speak comfortably.

"I'm fine standing here." Brushing my fringe to the side as I embrace the wind, my eyes fixes itself on the architecture of the city of Tokyo. I hear a few shifting of fabric against the seat as Rei rests her left leg over the other, exposing her long and smooth-white leg.

"Anyways, where did you bring Shinji to?" I ask.

"I wonder...but not to worry, he's alright." She replies calmly. Silence ensued for awhile, only the howling of the wind fills the quiet atmosphere.

"Always the guy acting cool...I see that you haven't changed a bit." Rei speaks softly. "I wonder, when will you ever move out of that shell of yours."

My eyes turns to hers, narrowing upon those words that she have said.

"What do you mean?"

Rei smiles, standing up as she walks over with her slender finger trailing from my wrist up to my shoulder, her arms eventually over my chest, her chest against my back. Her head moves closer to my neck as I can feel her breathing over my neck.

"Why must you make yourself suffer...hasn't time already healed that broken heart of yours?" This time, she speaks in a whisper to my ear. A tint of sadness could be felt behind those words. As I replayed those words in my head, memories of the past flashes in front of me.

"_Hiro-kun!" The sweet voice of the girl in white from my dream shouted to me, smiling brightly as her hands were put behind her back and her body slanting slightly to the left. The wind blew across her face gently as her hair floated in the air "You will always be my Hero!" She shouted again as I sat beneath an oak tree laughing along to those words._

"_That's really mushy, coming from you." I replied, pushing my body up from the soft patch of grass as I walked to her. _

"_Hey! I mean what I said!" She pouted with her hands on her hips. _

"_I believe you." Brushing her hair with my palm, my other hand swung and rest over her waist as I carried her up gracefully. _

"_Hey! Put me down, hahahahaha!" She screamed at first, then she laughed as we ran across the flower field. It was those time that I've felt true peace and comfort, something that I have always believed that was unworthy for me. _

_Then, the image switches to a much, heavier and depressing atmosphere; the setting in front of turned into the one in my dream. Replaying like a broken record, the dream that I've had always showd the girl in white cried for me as she sat upon the pile of dark rubber, bruised and wounded all over her body. And I could only stand there unable to move as I called for her name before everything fades away into darkness. _

"_Run, Hero! I'll be fine!" _

The voice of her plead echoes deeply in my head as I move Rei's arms away and walk away from her to the tree. I shake my head and brush my hand over my eyes. Even though it has been three years, those images still remains fresh in my head, and my heart.

"Time may have healed the wound, but the scar still remains." I say solemnly as my right hand rests on the tree bark as support. "If this is the reason that you've called me here, then I guess I'll take my leave then." I quickly continued, pulling my jacket down as I turn around to face Rei. Instead of the spirited face from before, her eyes showed a depressed mood; but she quickly changed her expression into a smile.

"Then I guess I'll need to capture your heart some other day." She jokes with her left hand cupped over her cheek. "Well then, on to serious business. Hand me the Pentacle, Baka-chan." She stretches her hand to me, palm opened. For awhile, I was taken aback by her sudden request. Doesn't she realize that the Pentacle is what changes me into the Masked fighter? Why will I want to hand over something precious to someone who I cannot determine to be a friend or foe?

She must have noticed the suspicious look on my face as she shakes her head, disappointed. She nudges her raised hand again.

"Don't you want to know why your Pentacle is acting weird?" She says with an annoyed look. "If you do not need my help, so be it." Flicking her hair to the sides, she turns around and starts to walk away.

"Wait!-" My mouth unknowingly calls out her. She stops with her back facing me. It's true that I am still suspicious about her motives. But, she is after all responsible about the Pentacle's creation and her words just now, it also shows that she was there during my fight against the Minor Suit. I pull out the Pentacle hanging on my neck and glance upon the stone piece. No matter how I see it, she may be the only one I can trust so far to look into the Pentacle.

"Here." I say, walking to her side and passes her the Pentacle reluctantly. Our eyes meet for awhile but her eyes slowly drifts to the piece of stone. Lifting it up to her eye-level, she looks into the stone as though to peek into something deep within. Rei kept quiet for awhile, flipping the Pentacle around as she reads into it. Finally, she throws the stone piece back to me, which lands nicely onto my palm.

"Well?" I ask. She heaves a sigh with a troubled face. Just looking at her tells me that it's not going to be a pleasant answer.

"The Pentacle is in a very bad shape. I believe that you must have exerted it quite a lot during the fight with Chariot. Anyway, I have to warn you that the amount of times left that you can use it is only..." She points up three fingers to the sky.

"...Three."

_Three._ The word replays itself in my head as my eyes widen with shock, gripping tightly to the Pentacle in my hand. Three?! This must be some sort of mistake. I try to deny the fact in my head as Rei looks at me with a confident look that her evaluation is correct.

"Are you...sure?" The words shakily comes out of my mouth.

"Of course I'm sure. You dare to doubt the words of the one who created this piece of stone?" She snaps with an irritated look on her face. "Judging by the weak pulse the Pentacle is giving out, I suppose that you must have short-circuited the little thing."

"Short..Circuit?" Those foreign words left me stumped.

"The Pentacle is meant to be a medium to exert only powers that it has already processed. You must have forced it to feed excessive amount of raw energy for it to be malfunctioning."

Now that she have mentioned it, I remembered the fight with Chariot as I used the repulsive force of the beast inside me to strengthen the Chalister...

"Because of the raw energy inputted, you have caused the inner circuit to divert its route in order to find a way to release those excessive energy elsewhere. And there you have it, an almost-fried piece of stone." Her words pierce into my heart as she gives an intimidating stare at me, pressing me down with her status as the creator of the Pentacle. To think that the fight before has already exhausted the Pentacle so much. How am I supposed to fight against the rest with such a bad handicap on my side?

I lower my head away as I apologize to the Pentacle in my head. I was too reckless and I have always thought that such situation would not happen to me. Taking the Pentacle for granted, that was something that I have failed to notice...

"Seriously now...I'm glad that piece of Pentacle that you've stolen is only the Proto-type."

"I see...wait, what?!" My face moved closer towards the unsuspecting Rei as she lean backwards, bewildered by my sudden movement. We stayed in that position for a few more seconds before I started talking again.

"Proto-type? What do you mean by that?"

"Oh? Will you be mine if I tell you?" Before I know it, her hands are already around my back as she moves closer to me. This time, I inch back as her lips closes in to my face. Crap, I almost forgot the fact that she's always trying to get me! But just I as thought that she's going for the kiss, her lips move away as she release her hold on me. Turning to face the horizon, she rests her chin on her supporting hand.

"Relax, I won't force myself on you. I'm a woman with dignity." She smiles sweetly back at me with words that I thought were rarely said by any women before, especially her. "And by Proto-type, I meant exactly what I said. That Pentacle you hold, is only a half-completed work of the _PentaDriver._"

"Penta...Driver, you say?"

"The Pentacle only uses half of the power they processed as the suit's power, the remaining half to sustain the suit's duration. Because of that, you can pretty much say that it does not bring out the full potential of the user. However, the PentaDriver is different. Inside them already contains the ability to suit up the user, while the Pentacle will be able to perform at their peak without worrying about the suit's durability."

"But...why worry about whether the suit is up or not?" I questioned abruptly.

"Good question. Now tell me, let's say I have a bottle of mineral water and a bottle of sea water. If I were to mix it up, will you still be able to drink it?"

"Of course-" I replied quickly, only to be cut short by Rei's eyes which narrowed slightly at me. "-Erm...well, but it will be sort of poisonous to the body because of the substances in the seawater..." After hearing my answer, Rei blows away her fringe and folds her hands as though satisfied with my later-part of the answer.

"Right. So you can say that the mineral bottle is your body and the seawater is the energy provided with the help of the Pentacle. Although I did mentioned it was processed power, you have to understand that processed energy do not mix well with your own raw energy. If the imbalance is too great, you can say that your body will suffer side-effects because of it. That's why, the suit of armor is there to prevent any chance of mixing the raw and processed energy together. As for the side-effects, I shall not touch too much about that. Anyways, I hope that you get my message."

Rei then goes on to pointing her finger tip at Pentacle's surface.

"So far, you can say that you have only used only up to fifty percent of what the Pentacle can truly do. That said, I'm quite amazed that Chariot lost to you..." Her words trails away as she rest her chin on the tip of her index finger. My eyes drifts to the Pentacle that I'm holding on to.

"Three more times..." I say to myself worryingly. To be honest, the reason why I have been using the Pentacle so far is because I choose not to rely on my other _half_. By other _half_, I mean the Arcana's raw form; like Chariot's Sphinx-beast and Tower's Goat-beast. That form of mine has already caused so much destruction and pain not only to the people around, but my closed ones. No matter what, I do not want to see it awaken again.

No. I can't do that too. If the Pentacle only has the ability to work three more times...no matter what, I'll still need to rely on it to accomplish my goal. What should I do? That said, it reminded me of something I wanted to ask Rei about...

"Why are you...telling me all this?"

"Because you're just a Baka-chan." She laughs lightly as the sun shines brighter over us. The wind blows even greater now as the grass and leaves flutters along to the wind, so as my hair and jacket. As the laughter stops, she turns to give a brief glance at me, before turning away. "But who knows? Am I your friend, or foe...you'll have to decide." She walks away even as I raise my hand up to object her leave.

While the distance widens between us, she raises her left hand with a wave and just as she did, Voids appeared from the ground that separated both of us! Wait, what was Rei actually pulling?

"Well then, my lesson comes with a price. Remember now, three times..." Her words vanishes along with her body which slowly breaks into polygons of light and then to thin air. I pull my left feet forward and my fist tightens against the five Voids that slowly surrounds me. No matter what, I can't keep relying on the Pentacle now!

"Hiyaaaah!" I shout, running towards the Voids in front of me.

* * *

Standing from a distance observing the fight between the Voids and the human Hiro, the mysterious figure has already heard all of the conversation said between the two. Wearing a black hood over to cover his facial features, the man stood grimly with his fist curled tightly. It was unexpected to see the Arcana, Temperance, have helped the man so much with information that should not be heard by him.

Could the Arcana be switching sides against the rest? The figure was not certain for he knew that Temperance was one with background almost similar to one of the other Arcana, Magician. But from the topic discussed, the man has also learned quite a lot of things. One in particular that interest him the most; the PentaDriver.

Now that he knew about the production of a new arsenal, a smile curled on his lips as he stood unmoving from his space until the last of the Voids were defeated by the mere human. After a moment or two, the man has finally thought of a plan. He would take the PentaDriver as his possession first, before eliminating the man known as Kureno Hiro.

Ex-member or not, the man named Hiro has already been deemed as a man that was needed to be dealt with..._fatally._

* * *

**Author's Note: **

**I apologize to you readers for having no scene of action in this chapter! But not to worry, this chapter is a building block that will contribute much more in the later chapters so please bear with me! Meanwhile, let me hear your thoughts on the story thus far!**


	11. Reading 11

**Kamen Rider Zero**

**Reading 11: To transform!...or not?**

The figure clothed in black, along with a hood which covered his face, walked towards a seemingly abandoned factory site alone. The area was filled with waste piled up high like a mountain. Along with the sun's glaring light, the shadow that was cast among the mountains made it looked all the more eerie and dark. But to this man, it was the perfect site for him to stay. In fact, he has been living in there comfortably all these while.

His light footsteps echoed through the empty, decrepit structure, making a 'shaah shaah' sound with his feet dragging along the pebbles on the ground too. Inside the building, the only light source was the penetrating rays which crept through the cracks of the walls, forming irregular shapes that shone only small parts of the room. But that was enough for them. They preferred it to be dark. By they, it meant the other two men who was in the very same building as well.

One was cloaked lightly with a singlet and body ridden with tattoos of skulls and chains. He was laying on the pebbles with arms stretched behind his head as he stared into the ceiling filled with cobwebs. The other one was a much slender-built man. He was much younger compared to the other two, more like a teenager. He was always seen wearing a pair of black uniform which belonged to a neighboring school nearby.

The just arrived member of the trio then proceed to remove his hood. He had tanned-skin and blond hair, along with a silver earring on his left earlobe. No matter how you looked at him, he resembled nothing to any of the locals and more like a touring Caucasian. He walked confidently to his seat that was in between the two. It was a stack of rubber and debris and the top of it was an antique-looking chair. He leaped up with ease and sat upon the high seat, resting his chin on his knuckles.

"So what did you see?" The schoolboy asked, flipping a coin up as he caught it with his other hand. He smacked it onto the topside of his hand. The coin revealed a heads. He smiled and looked up to the blond-haired man. "Hey Strauss, you've got some interesting stories to share right?"

"Yes...it seems that that sneaky little bastard is planning something up his sleeves again." Strauss narrowed his eyes slightly at the thought of it.

"Ohhhh...lucky! So what did you see?"

Strauss had been thinking a lot during his trip back to his little comfort zone. The PentaDriver that the Arcana Temperance had mentioned was something new to him. After all, the researchers who worked under the great leader of the 'Revolution' had always been the type who kept their mouths shut. This accidental eavesdrop was like gold mine being presented upon him.

No matter what, he must get that PentaDriver. It may be the only tool that could bring him immense power over the other Arcanas. Seeing how Zero had performed with the Pentacle alongside him, it was with no doubt that the Driver would be able to do much more, and easily as well. Now, the only question that remained was,

How could he orchestrate the events before him to attain the belt?

"Fenril, Behemoth, shall we play a game soon?" Strauss said.

"Lucky! What's the game about?!" The schoolboy Fenril shouted excitedly with a fist pumped in the air.

"..." The quiet Behemoth that laid on the ground just stared blankly at the ceiling, not a word from his mouth.

* * *

I decided to fill Hikari and Hamano in on what Rei had just told me. She said that the Pentacle could only work for at most, three more times before it officially break apart. I have also told them about the PentaDriver which was completed, according to her. After the talk with her, there were a lot of things being established as I got to understand how the Pentacle worked.

Firstly, the Pentacle that I am holding on to acts as not only a way to boost my strength, but also to suit my body to prevent unnecessary harm from the 'processed' energy that the Pentacle produces. Secondly, the Pentacle is not the final product of the Rider System; but only a prototype. Lastly, the number of times that I am able to use the system is...three.

After taking a sip of coffee, I relax my back against the chair while Hamano sits at her place with a blank look on her face. It's not surprising that she was confused by the information since she was just some ordinary girl who got caught up with us because...of her own reasons. Hikari, however, does not look surprise. Instead, her eyes feels as though she has lost herself in her own thoughts.

"Hikari, are you okay?" I ask.

"Huh...what?" Hikari then snaps back suddenly with a dazed look as she looks over to the both of us as we cast a curious gaze at her. Ever since Rei's appearance, Hikari seems to be a lot more...distracted? Or maybe it's me who's getting distracted. The words left by her still echoes inside my head as my fingers rest on the Pentacle's surface. Not only that, the point with Rei suddenly appearing to feed me with all this information is something that is suspicious.

"_But who knows? Am I your friend, or foe...you'll have to decide."_

It just doesn't sit well with me...

"Ah yes, Hiro...I-" Just as Hikari wanted to say something, my attention was immediately stolen by the Wand as it displayed a strong pulse of energy that signaled the signs of a Minor Suit nearby. I jumped to my feet and finished up the last of the coffee.

"Hikari, If it's anything less important than the Suit, fill me in when I get back." I promptly reply, pushing the door open as I rush out the cafe. Judging by the direction of the needle, it must be at least two blocks down the streets around here. Just as I am deciding the route to take, a couple of screams from the south of the shop catches my attention. From the corner of the juncture, I see a couple of people running in frenzy, some even to the extent of rolling over the floor!

"I guess this is my answer." I run towards it without a moment of hesitation. Reaching the middle of the juncture, my eyes catches sight of the Minor Suit that's rampaging down the streets. It's a Mantis-type of Minor Suit judging from the looks and structure of its slender and green body, with a pair of blades in its hands. "Hey, over here!" I shout, running towards it to divert its attention to me.

Before it can be turn to look, I lunge forward and push it down the ground, pounding my fists upon its hard body. The Suit pushes me away without any problem as it stands up slowly. I hold my knuckles close as it throbs with pain from all the attack.

"I am looking for humans worthy to be my master's subject." The Suit says.

"You mean subjects to be experimented into something like you?"

"Would you perhaps, like to be one?" It says as it holds on tightly to the pair of curved blades.

Not wasting a second, I rolled away and kicked off the ground to push some distance between us. Just as I pulled out my Pentacle, I suddenly paused as the thought of Rei's words played in my head.

"_Three Times."_

Dammit! What am I supposed to do with the limit forced upon me? Before I could come up with an answer, my body instinctively dodged backwards from the inching scythes. The second blade came right after that as it swung down from above.

"Arrgh!" I tried to move away, barely escaping from the fatal blow. But, it still managed to leave a cut across my arm. I twist my arms to take a look at the trail of crimson oozing out. A stinging pain comes right after that.

"I see the Pentacle on you. Why do you not transform, Kamen Rider Zero?" It smirked, leaving me with that mocking tone.

"Hah...I was just about to wipe you with it!" Now isn't the time to be contemplating! For now, the only option is to transform and push the worries until later! Forming the stance, I stared into the Minor Suit's eyes as I yelled,

"Henshin!"

"_**Thou Shalt Summon...Thy Fool!" **_

In the midst of the flashy light works, I pulled the Chalister out as I accelerated my steps towards the Mantis Suit. Using whatever distance and time I could, I pulled the Chalister back behind and when I saw the moment, I threw my arms around with the blade in hand as it swung with speed towards the Suit.

'Clang!'

Although it's actions were delayed, the panicking Mantis Suit still managed to pull out one of its scythe as it blocked against the impact of the Chalister. Yellow sparks danced around the edges where the friction between both blades grind.

The strong collision left my arms flying back with an open chest in front of the Minor Suit. It took its chance as it drew an 'X' with its scythe as it scratches against the armors of my Rider suit. The strike of its weapon was enough to push me backwards as I fell on my back.

"It's not over!" I yelled and brought myself back to my feet once more as I summoned the Chariot Token stored in the Pentacle.

"_**Zero, Let's Riii-dde!" **_

A flash of orange drew across my shoulder plates as the Chalister split itself into a pair of Orange Chakrams. The Suit stood readily as both of us charged forward with an array of combat skills thrown against each other, our surrounding lighted up in flashes of yellow.

* * *

"What was it that you wanted to...tell Hiro?" Hamano shrugged, her arms rubbing the side of her elbow. She knew that it was rude to be asking about other people's affairs, but because of the stale atmosphere that Kureno Hiro had left them with after the abrupt chase for the Minor Suit, Hamano Itoe was stuck in the uncomfortable position. She turned to look at Hikari's eyes which was fixed on the crystal ball in front of her.

In there was a display that was recording the fight between Zero and the Minor Suit. Hamano had noticed that Hiro was using a different form against the Suit. The weapon and streak of fresh color on his rider suit was actually belonged to the defeated Arcana, Chariot. It was said by Hiro that after the fight has ended, he found the piece of token that looked similar to the wolf token he had, laying on the heap of white ashes in front of him.

Hamano could not help but craned her neck forward as the heated fight went on. But just as Hamano was viewing the orb, Hikari shifted slightly and caused her to be startled.

"Huh?...Oh, well...how should I put it..." Hikari was stuttering between her words, which Hamano felt really strange about. In fact, it has been going on more usual, ever since that day when she returned back to the shop (during the time where Hiro was recuperating). It was as though there was something that Hikari was hiding. Concerned, Hamano moved closer to Hikari as she placed her hand on top of the boss of 'Gothic 109' and nodded with a smile.

It seemed to have help Hikari a bit as she returned back a smile, her face looking much less depressing. Then, Hikari took in a deep breath before talking,

"It's about Rei...the woman that Hiro had met. This was supposed to be a secret but seeing how risky everything was going, I don't think I can hold it in anymore..." Hikari suddenly started to break down into tears much to Hamano's surprise. The tears started to fall onto Hamano's hands and she was at a lost as to what Hikari had meant. She quickly turned around and spot a box of wipes and using her other arms to reach out, she pulled a piece out and handed it to Hikari.

"Risky? I don't get it..." Hamano started to ask. Hikari's crying seemingly subsided after a while as she calmed herself down. Hamano would have never thought that Hikari was one who would show her fragile side to anyone since she was always so chirpy and smiling. She waited for Hikari's answer, the quiet atmosphere was not replaced with the inconsistent sobbing and ticking of the clock. Finally, Hikari began to speak.

"That woman...Rei...she is actually on our side."

"Argh!" The Minor Suit squealed as the cuts of Zero's chakram sunk onto its body. Right now, the balance has tilted to favor the Kamen Rider as he walked towards the wounded Suit with chakrams twirling on his hands. "What are you..." The Suit asked, pressing tightly to its wounds.

"Kamen Rider, Zero." The Rider said confidently as his thumbs clicked onto the button in the center of the spiked disc. Roaring into life, the spikes were not spinning in high velocity in the hands of the unfazed knight. "And your fate has been read."

"_**Chariot, Rumble-rumble-rumble-rumble!" **_The voice spoke from within the pair of blades as Zero threw them in the air while at the same time, running towards the confused Suit. Bending his knees, Zero sprung into the air as both disc came into his hands.

"Shuriken...comet!" As he yelled the name of his final move, the two disc were thrown one after the one onto the Suit as an explosion lighted up the area. The pair of Chakrams then returned into the hands of Zero as it formed back to the Chalister. The Suit was now burning in ashes, the district finally saved from the terror of the Suit.

"Rei is on our side? But why is she with the other Arcanas?" This time, Hamano was confused more than ever. With the sudden words of Hikari, she was not sure what should be the best reaction to give. Hikari remained firm with her words as she gave a nod.

"She was a double agent. Because she was one of the few who've created the Driver system, Rei thought that if she were to leave, all her effort and hard work would've gone into the wrong hands. Not only that, the technology to create the Driver...that was the only place which provides it." At that note, Hikari could not help but bit her lips with a worrying look on her face. "That day, when I've met her...she said that the Driver was complete but she had a feeling that..." Hikari paused.

"...That?"

"...One of the other Arcana who was heading the research and engineer, Teriuihi Ando, may have found out about her intentions – to bring the Driver to aid Hiro. But the thing, Hiro does not know that at all!" Hamano could see Hikari clutching tightly to her own denim jeans, her body was shaking badly. It was enough to inject fear into Hamano's mind.

"If Teriuihi was to really find out...Rei...she may be in trouble! Teriuihi Ando...he may use Hiro as a pawn as well!" Hikari shouted as she ran out of the office, leaving Hamano no choice but to follow her as well. If anything was to happen to Hikari, Hamano Itoe would never forgive herself. Not only that, she could not help but had the feeling that something ominous was about to happen.

* * *

Still wearing the Rider suit, I stand in the empty junction, looking down at the pile of ashes – the remains of the Minor Suit. I grit my teeth in frustration as I keep the ground with a loud 'thud', the ashes flew up along with the wind. Because of that fight, it has cost me one more chance to transform into Zero. If more of the Minor Suits appear, I may not be able to continue the work to accomplish my goal. As the thought loomed in my head, a primitive instinct in me sensed another presence nearby.

I turn my head to the left end of the housing district as a blurry figure appears, walking towards me. But as she got closer, it was obvious to me that it's Rei that was there. Then, a purple aura emits out of her body as her figure and appearance starts to distort; yellow fur and black spots begin to envelop her body as her face turns into a Cheetah-like appearance. In her hand holds a thing, yet sturdy piece of sword.

"Rei, what are you trying to do?" I shout to the approaching Arcana.

"Kureno, Hiro, I, will, kill, you." Her words were staggered like a mechanical robot. I do not know why but her character feels...out of place. Compared to our meeting a few days back, the Rei that's before me now feels unnatural. Perhaps, she is really serious about bringing me back?

Now, the only thing that separates us is the gap of thirty meters. I pull out the Chalister once more as I place left feet forward and my right arm holding the blade back. Hostility and a death intent. That's all I can feel from her today. Then, my attention shifts to the top of a house beside us. Sitting on the rooftop is the man in black – Teriuihi Ando. What is he doing here?

"Hiro-chan, let's have a bet." He smiles widely, his hand holding on to an ice-cream stick. No matter how I look at him, he just doesn't seem to be serious about anything at all. And because of that, I feel the need to be alert around him. For all I know, he may have set a trap around or hiding something up his sleeve.

"What do you mean? Isn't it a bit unfair for me to be dealing with two Arcana now?" I reply. As usual, he grins and lay backwards as though words like these doesn't concern him. Then from behind his back, he pulled out something; something that finally had me in full attention. On his hand held a metallic belt-like item. In the center – which holds the black belt buckle, has a semi-circle slot without anything in it. Without mistake, this is definitely the one that Rei has mentioned before,

The PentaDriver.

"Oi, oi. What are you playing at, Teriuihi Ando? What's with that belt on your hands!"

"Like I said, Hiro-chan, let's have a bet now. The bidding prize is this belt over here. As for the rules of the game..." He narrows his eyes and turns to the Temperance Arcana standing opposite me. "Kill her."

"What?" For a moment there, I was lost at his words. I looked over to Rei, who stood unfazed as she remained silent in her Arcana form. Did she consent to this as well? My suspicion was still pinned onto the man known as Teriuihi Ando. "Do you expect me to believe you-"

"I am serious." I could see his tensed look as he said that. It was then I knew that he was serious. Since back then when we were working together, it was always that look on his face that showed others that he meant business. Then, his face resumed to the child-like composure again. "Defeat her if you can. Of course, I will only give you this belt if you manage to win her. Rei-chan has agreed to this as well. After all, she wanted to bring you back to us, right, Rei-chan?"

"Right. I, will, win, Zero." Rei spoke sluggishly, raising her blade up. I followed too.

"So Rei...one last question. Are you my foe now?"

"..." A silent reply from Rei as she slightly shifts her sword.

Now I guess this is it. Until now, I have been contemplating whether Rei is someone that I can rely despite being an Arcana working for the others. But this meeting here...although I have no idea what's happening, but if Teriuihi really means what he say, I will defeat Rei...I can't afford to lose!

"Then here I come!" I shouted, my feet charging forward.

* * *

**Author's Note: **

**Woah there! One of the longest chapter I've done but then again, I've managed to put in all the bits that I wanted into this very same chapter! Teriuihi Ando finally makes his second appearance in front of Kureno Hiro and not only that, a bet to decide the owner of the belt! This is really getting interesting as the next chapter shall bring the 'PentaDriver' Arc to an end! Stay tuned and thank you readers for your support and reviews! **


	12. Reading 12

**Kamen Rider Zero**

**Reading 12: Zero vs Temperance  
**

Our blades met with a loud metallic clash as we backed away two steps, shifting our sword into a much comfortable position. With spring in each of my step, I shouted as I brought the Chalister out in a horizontal slash. Rei effortlessly bended backwards, her hand clawed the ground as she kicked the blade away. The impact of her counter shook my arm as I was forced to shuffle my feet backwards.

On her toes, Rei knelt onto the floor and in the next instant shot herself towards me as she held the blade in front of her face. Panicked, I shifted the Chalister down to waist height quickly to block her penetrative strike. Blue sparks erupted out, our blades collided one strike after the other.

The humming sound of the blade resonated in my ear as my eyes were fixed on Rei's. Her flexible and slender physique made it all the more harder for me as she evaded every of my moves with ease. My heartbeat accelerated with every strike I swung.

'Wooh, whooh, whoooh.'

One after another, Rei managed to completely escape unscathed while returning with moves of her own, tearing itself onto the Rider suit. Even though my body was protected by the black suit, the throbbing effects of her merciless blows were enough to break through my defenses and ultimately throwing me off the ground.

"Haarrrgh!" I rolled over and over until my body struck a nearby pillar. My back winced as I laid momentarily frozen from shock. As expected, Rei was not someone easily confronted and defeated; unlike Chariot. If I were to compare both their strength, it would be obvious that the difference between them would be worlds apart!

Dammit, why am putting myself down? My fist curled and smashed the cement floor as I pushed myself up.

_I cannot lose! _The thought screamed in my head, my hands once again gripping firmly onto the hilt.

Pushing my body to the limit, I focused all my thoughts on Rei as the sides of my vision blurred itself away. The sound of blade slashing the air beside me forced my ears to go alert. My feet instinctively sidestepped to the right as I lowered the blade's angle towards the chest of the Arcana.

But that attack was swiftly intercepted by her other arm as it pushed away the Chalister, leaving my chest wide open. I stumbled backwards and what came afterward was a series of fast sword skills from her weapon as it rain onto my chest plate.

"Arghhh!" My body shook as she continued to throw her relentless strikes at the same spot. I could even see the metal plates slowly chipping away bit by bit!

'Thung. Thunk. Clang.' If I was bare naked, it would seem that I had been killed over and over again. My mind was in a state of blank and shock as I gasped for air and my hands clutches tightly to my upper body.

"Haahh...hah...hah...is this my limits?" I gasped for air and as each second passed, the stinging pain intensified all over my body. I gritted my teeth and smashed the floor hard. What was this feeling that's overpowering me? Was it disappointment, or the mind of a weak fighter? After all, what had I really been fighting for all these while – will today be the last day I breath? Negative thoughts slowly feed itself into my heart as my muscles relaxed as though defeated by my own mind.

But just as I was at my lowest, an image flashed in front of me. As though my soul had separated itself from the body, I was showered with warmth as I met the face of that women in white again.

The women that had been etched into my heart all these time.

In that brush of memory, she was sitting in the middle of a forest clearing, smiling cheerfully as she looked elsewhere. She was alone in that calm, relaxing surrounding. Then, as though she had noticed my presence, her head turned to me and behind those silent yet moving lips, I swore I could hear those soothing words that reignited the dying flame in my heart. It replayed on and on in my mind as it gave me a sudden burst of energy.

"_You can do it, Hero-kun."_

A rush of strength coursed through my body and blood once more as I stood up firmly, washing those negative thoughts away. No, I do not allow my fate to end here. All those times training and meditating...they are meant for such battles that I will have to face now and in the future! That's why...that's why I cannot allow myself to lose!

* * *

Sitting on the rooftop as he finished the last bit of ice-cream in his hand, Teriuihi Ando gave a sinister smile as he witnessed the epic fight in front of him. Having seen Kureno Hiro getting beaten up time and time again was something that excites his blood; but deep down, he knew that the Kamen Rider would stand up again – and win this fight.

After all, he was not one that underestimates the strength of those worthy of his praise. Having thought about that, the foolish Chariot came into his mind as he remembered the time where that stubborn mull had rejected his help. But that aside, he drifted his eyes to Rei, a feeling of glee in his heart.

He then remembered about the incident that took place two days back.

_The Temperance Arcana, Rei, was looking through the files in his research lab about the recently completed project; _

_'The PentaDriver'._

_Although at that point of time, he had already pinned his suspicion on Rei. He knew that she betraying the organization was only a matter of time and the reason why he allowed her to continue her stay beside him was due to...interest. _

_Not interest in the opposite gender but interest in experimenting the story plot that would unfold later. As a matter of fact, his theories proved correct when Rei had gone to meet Kureno Hiro and even before him, Miharu Hikari. _

_That was when Teriuihi Ando had planned that the story had to go on into its final act. As soon as Rei got hold of the PentaDriver, Teriuihi Ando appeared in front of her as he held on to a piece of token – which had the shape of a sorcerer's hat._

"_T-Teriuihi Ando...what are you doing here?" The startled Rei spoke as though guilty to be caught red-handed._

"_I was thinking of doing an experiment...for something that I had recently created." He raised the hand holding the token higher so as to catch the attention of the Temperance Arcana. "In my hand is a token, or more accurately – a fragment of my power. I was experimenting on the possibilities of creating Suits holding the power of a token. Of course, I will need to experiment using an actual specimen, but most probably no Arcana would have agreed to that."_

_He flicked the token in the air and snatched it back as it fell. "What better way than to experiment using mine then? Behold, Rei-chan, an artificial fragment of an Arcana's strength. With this, I will be able to control any of my Suits with ease...as easy as a thought in my head." _

_He stepped forward while Rei retreated back slowly. Her eyes were full of fear and it was that expression which Teriuihi Ando loved to witness...and savor. _

"_What...what are you thinking of? If word gets out that you're using one of your own comrades to experiment, how would Father react to it?!" Her words escalated into a scream, exciting Teriuihi Ando's heart even more. _

"_Ah, quick to follow on, Rei-chan. Not to worry about that...because I have already sought 'his' approval."_

"_What?!" As much as Rei tried to deny, it was indeed a fact as Teruihi Ando had already exposed her traitorous alliance to their Father, the 'World'. It was with his consent that Teruihi Ando was able to do what he would now towards the fallen Rei._

"_Now that everything's cleared aside, let's say we enjoy this final act of the Temperance Arcana featuring...yours truly." He tossed the token into the body of Rei as it shone a faint light in her chest. _

_Falling to the ground, Rei clutched tightly to her chest as she tried to crawl out for help. She did not know why but power was slowly seeping out of her as her mind began to turn into a state of blank. Memories flashed through her eyes from the time she joined the organization, to her induction into the Arcana and finally, the face of the man she had loved...Kureno Hiro. _

"_Gyyyyaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhh!" Tears streamed down her face as her body finally gave in to the struggle, falling down onto the floor as the last of her thoughts were...erased._

Now, she was nothing more than a soulless puppet working under the whims of that tenacious man known as Teriuihi Ando. Stretching his body, the laid back man tapped his finger lightly on the belt in front of him as the fight continued on.

* * *

In the series of blade works that heated up the match, my face moved in towards Rei, followed by a powerful swing diagonal to her shoulder. The Chalister chewed onto the skin of Rei as she yelled in pain. Following the successful attack, I was met with the tip of her blade as it pushed me away from her as I crashed onto the floor.

My body and mind was throbbing as my muscles seared in pain. Despite the adrenaline rush I had minutes ago, the stress of constantly pushing my body to give and receive pain was feeding itself onto me. I quickly supported my weight with the Chalister's tip resting on the surface of the floor.

"Hahhh...hahh.." Both of us were at our limits now. Even Rei was beginning to show fatigue as her movements were becoming more noticeably dull. Although we had been fighting for awhile now, I couldn't help but feel a certain sense of uneasiness about the outcome.

Rei had been silent all these time and as much as I hate to admit, the fact that she did not show her feelings for me until now had felt...out of place. I turned to look at the relaxing Teriuihi Ando; who waved back with a smile. I spat out a breath and redirected my focus onto the Temperance Arcana.

Without Rei noticing, I summoned the piece of wolf token into my hand. I gripped it firmly as I observed her from a distance. Drawing her sword out once more, Rei kicked towards me as her sword followed over her head.

Counting down, my hands fluidly sprung into action as I threw the token mid-air with my Chalister consuming it right before it fell.

"_**Zero...Howww-uwl!"**_ The Chalister spoke as I shifted it to waist-height, my legs rooted firmly to the ground. Controlling my breathing, my eyes stared intently at hers as I prepared for the deciding move.

"Canis...Chase!" The blinding flash of wolf-like light drew out from the Chalister as four wolves lunged towards the approaching Rei. Despite her initial struggle, the wolves managed to chew their fangs onto her as it locked Rei into submission.

"Gyaaaah!" She screamed, struggling to release herself but to no avail. I lifted my sword beside my face as my heart beat even faster than before. With this last strike, I will walk away victorious with my hands on the PentaDriver. Biting my lips, I took my stance as I prepared myself to release the final attack.

* * *

"..."

Teriuihi Ando sat at the edge of his seat as he anticipated the final attack. But the longer he waited, the more it did not happen.

Or rather, it was something happening down at the fight that was delaying Kureno Hiro's decisive move.

He narrowed his eyes as he started to realize something.

Lying on the floor behind Rei was the charred piece of Token, the one that he had thrown into her body. For reasons unknown, the wolves that Hiro had summoned must have did something to reject the token from her body. Or maybe, it could be Rei's own will. Whatever the case, Teriuihi Ando felt disappointed at the result of his work. He would need to research more on harnessing its power after this battle.

At the thought of that, he relaxed his shoulder.

Instead of worrying, he hung a smile on his face. Perhaps having surprises once in a while would be something enjoyable, he thought.

Right before Hiro's eyes, the fallen Rei turned back into her human state with tears streaming down her eyes. This felt strange to Hiro as for a few minutes back, it felt as though Rei was fighting without mercy. Now that he has seen this side of Rei, his mind was conflicted as to lay the last move on her...or not. Right now, it was as though he was looking upon a different person compared to the one he fought.

"What are you waiting for...Hiro?" The woman finally spoke. This time, it was not that sluggish and mechanical tone but something pure from the bottom of her heart. "Defeat me...and the Driver is yours. Don't you want it?" Rei said weakly, her body too worn to even support herself as she slouched, only relying on the wolves that was lifting her body off the ground.

Kureno Hiro stepped backwards. As she said that, everything was beginning to feel weird for him. This wasn't the same Rei during the fight. This Rei does not carry any will to kill him. If that was the case, Kureno Hiro could not find the reason to finish her off.

Or maybe he have – for the fate of the PentaDriver laid on whether he defeated Rei or not.

"What are you doing, Hiro-chan. Kill her, and the PentaDriver is all yours. Don't you want it?" Teriuihi Ando's voice had Hiro snapped his head towards him. Those eyes looking down at them, it felt as though he was watching a show...no, it looked more like he was trying to direct the show to his liking.

That was when Kureno Hiro started to have a hunch on something.

"Isn't this enough, Teriuihi Ando? I've won." Kureno Hiro replied as he withdrew the wolves from Rei, dropping her on the floor. Rei looked up at Kureno Hiro with a shocked look. Does he not realized that she was still her opponent, or was he thinking that her body was too weak to retaliate?

"Huh..?"

As her hands pulled her body back, Rei suddenly felt a poke on her finger. She turned back to see the charred and destroyed piece of token which belonged to Teriuihi Ando. Now it all made sense to Rei that she was freed from his control, which explained why she was able to move her body and talked.

It was because of the Token residing in her body that restricted her mind from controlling the body. Because of that, Rei was still able to witness the fight as a spectator and also hear the words exchanged between Kureno Hiro and Teriuihi Ando.

"The bet was to kill her." Teriuihi Ando emphasized his tone on the last two words. "Don't tell me that Hiro-chan is surrendering? It would also meant that you're forfeiting this." He waved the belt in front with a devilish grin.

'Thung!'

"Huuaargh!" Teriuihi Ando snapped as he accidentally released his grip on the PentaDriver. It was the work of an orb attack from his left that he had failed to notice.

Seizing the opportunity, Kureno Hiro leaped up to grab the PentaDriver tightly in his hands. A smile of victory lit on his face as he turned to the right to see both Miharu Hikari and Hamano Itoe running towards them. Obviously, that sneak attack must have belonged to the High Priestess Arcana, Miharu Hikari.

"Whatttt-?! Hikari, your hands, just now...you've just...an orb flew from it?" Hamano was completely dumbstruck as she bared witness to Hikari's move for the first time. Although Hamano knew from Hikari that she once belonged in the same organization as Hiro, who would have thought that the boss of 'Gothic 109' was an Arcana as well?

"It's you...Hikari-chan." Teriuihi Ando hissed quietly to himself as he massaged the hand that was struck by her works.

"Hiro, Rei...you're both alright!" Hikari relieved a sigh as both Hamano and her ran to join them. "Listen, Hiro...Rei, she is one of us!" Hikari explained to Hiro as she panted, her hands resting on the armors of the Kamen Rider.

"Huh? What? But I...I was just about to..." Kureno Hiro stuttered and turned towards the sitting Rei. Ever since he gave up on finishing her, he felt strange that Teriuihi Ando would go so far just to see the demise of Rei. Then, it struck him that Teriuihi Ando would not sacrifice the organization's agent for his use unless there was a reason to.

He relieved a sigh behind the mask, feeling comfort in his decision of not eliminating Rei. If not, he knew that he would be guilty-ridden for the rest of his life. Perhaps that was what Teriuihi Ando was trying to accomplish as well.

Kureno Hiro looked down at the belt he was holding on to and then back at Teriuihi Ando. He further provoked the man on the roof by showing a grin on his face.

"I've won the belt." Kureno Hiro showed a smugged look.

Teriuihi Ando could not take that insult, of course. But, he was smart enough to know that it would be his own downfall should he be taunted by Hiro's remarks. Retreating his steps, Teriuihi Ando shook his head and returned them with a calm look on his face.

"A miscalculation on my part, I suppose. Well now, Hiro-chan, take care of that belt, while you still can." Finishing his sentence, the man in black slowly disappeared behind the rooftop.

Once they have ascertained that the malicious man was gone from here, Kureno Hiro removed the Rider suit as he collapsed onto the floor, panting as he supported his body with his arms and knees. He was completely worn out from using the Rider suit for so long. Now that the fight was over, Kureno Hiro was able to breathe in fresh air again.

"Hiro! Are you okay?" Hamano and Hikari moved towards him to pull him up as he replied with a weak nod. Kureno Hiro turned to Rei and extended his arms out.

"Huh...?" Rei looked dumbfounded.

"Rei...I'm sorry..." He apologized as Rei felt a flush of heat on her face. She had never expected to deserve such words from Hiro. Her heart beat excitedly as she darted her eyes from side to side. Could her 'sacrifice' have moved Hiro's rock solid heart?

"I'm sorry...for winning you hands down back there." Hiro finished his sentence with a cheeky smile.

Rei's short moment of happiness turned into a sour pout as she slapped his hands away. Nonetheless, they eventually broke into laughter as a smile appeared on all their faces for they all knew that today was a victory for them.

And not only that, Kureno Hiro has finally obtained the PentaDriver.

* * *

**Author's Note:**

**And with that, the chapter wraps up the 'PentaDriver' arc, as well as the fight between Kamen Rider Zero and Temperance! I hoped that the ending for this chapter has also managed to leave a smile on your face as it has shown how much Kureno Hiro had struggled to accomplish a feat such as this. **

**As usual, do leave your reviews below to let me know what you feel about the story! **

**P.S: And also...in a few more chapters...there will be a cameo appearance...fufufu~~...who is it? Stay tuned to find out!**


	13. Reading 13

**Kamen Rider Zero**

**Reading 13: PentaDriver Read On and a new type of Minor Suit?!**

'Slam!'

The entire table shook as a few vials of substance fell onto the floor, smashed into pieces. Teriuihi Ando's fist shook slightly as he breathed in deeply to calm himself down. Never in his life had he failed his experiment and been so humiliated in public, let alone in front of the Arcana.

He released his fist slowly as he wore the black bowler hat that hung on the hook behind him. Calming himself down now, Teriuihi Ando looked into the mirror to adjust his vest as he put on that usual eerie smile on his face.

"Well now, Gokudera-chan. How long will you be hiding in that sad, pathetic shadow?" He said sarcastically.

"Ha ha ha ha ha. Thought you might prefer the quiet atmosphere." True enough, a figure emerged from the corner of his research room as he laughed to himself. He fashioned in a pair of blue long sleeved tee shirt and a pair of red pants and lastly, a pair of yellow shoes. On his left cheek was a tattoo of 'XII'.

His eccentric disposition was something that did not surprise Teriuihi Ando at all, since the man had always been an oddball out of the rest. But aside that weird character, he was someone that Teriuihi Ando trusted the most.

"Well, it's rare for you to visit, so speak your mind." Teriuihi Ando walked towards a mahogany wood table and sat there as he reached out to pour two cups of tea. The man known as Gokudera made his way to the opposite side of the table and sat down.

"Ha ha ha ha...I've seen that interesting fight there. Hiro and Rei, along with Hikari and some other chick." Stretching his hands behind his head, Gokudera laughed even harder than before.

Teriuihi Ando paused his movement for awhile as those humiliating memory repeated in his mind. Clearing his throat, he took a sip from the cup.

"So you had." He placed the cup lightly on the table. "Then, I suppose you've witnessed my new invention-in-progress, no?"

"Of course!" Resting his arms on the table top now, Gokudera craned his neck forward with interest. "So, what development are you going to do next?"

Teriuihi Ando gave an amused look as he dug into his pocket to reveal a piece of round token. On it, was a roman numeral 'VII'. It was already in production even before that fight which happened yesterday. Now that the first product was ready, all that was needed next was to experiment. Just thinking about it gave him the flutters and chills.

"I am certain that you will enjoy it."

* * *

"Hikari...don't you think that the cafe is starting to give me the cold treatment?" I ask with a cup of tea in hand. My eyes darts around uncomfortably as all the staffs' eyes that looks at me either shows a face of disappointment or anger. Either way, I am beginning to doubt the possibility of me having any comfortable services here in the days to come.

Of course, all these treatment felt familiar and...with a reason too. After all, the main answer is sitting just beside me.

"Hikari! Your coffee is really amazing!" Rei exclaims with both hands cupped around the glass. It felt as though my subject was harshly pushed aside. I groan, slouching back while Hikari giggles as she nods lightly at her. "I'm serious and I'm sure it will sell out with all the..."

Her words drones on as I stood up and exit the shop. The two of them paid no heed to me and continued on with their chat. But at least right now, the cafe was getting much lively than ever with the new addition of Rei.

Ever since that last battle and the encounter with Teriuihi Ando, Rei had decided that it was best for her to leave the city and spend some time alone. However, it would be dangerous for her; not as a frail woman, but another target by the rest of the Arcana.

That's why we have came up with the plan for her to live alongside us. It wouldn't hurt to have another pair of hands to help my fight against the Organization, right? And besides that, her intelligence and engineering skills may prove to be a huge asset for us in the future.

As multiple thoughts swam in my head, it was only a few seconds later that I realized I've overshot my destination. Reversing the Lone Wolf into the parking lot, I removed my rider gloves and stepped out of the bike.

On the huge board just in front of me was the word 'Sanno hospital'.

Taking in a huge breath, I shook my head to remove any lingering thoughts as I walked into the lobby of the hospital. It has been a long time since I've visited my friend, Takeru.

The registration procedure for visitors took not more than fifteen minutes. It was surprisingly fast, considering the number of crowd today. After getting my visitor pass from the counter, I thanked the nurse as I walked along the aisle to the passenger lift.

'Click.'

The button lights up the moment my finger presses the level number. After confirming the floor, my finger then trails downwards to the 'Close door' button.

"Waiiiiiiiiitttt!"

A shriek forces my finger to pause as I look ahead to see the tiny build of a girl running towards my way with arms waving crazily in the air. But as her features appeared more distinct as she closed the distance between us, I can't help but decide to ignore her by clicking the button.

'Ding.'

The arrow on the lift pointing up lit, followed by the sliding of the door as I smiled to myself. Just as the girl saw the lift door closing, she accelerated her steps suddenly and what came after that left me with a wide-opened mouth.

"I said...WAIIIIIIITTTTTTT!"

Her figure was poised and her legs went into a blur. Heads were already turning to the ruckus as she pushed forward towards the lift. With only a few more seconds before the door completely shut itself, the schoolgirl in white leaped into the air with her arms stretched forward, facing me.

"What...aaaaaahhh!" I yelled as I backed away while the approaching figure floated in mid-air. It felt as though time had slowed down tremendously between those moments as both our eyes met.

In the air was the girl, Hamano Itoe as her body slid through the gap of the doors (to my surprise). My heart raced as I stared wide-eyed at the closing figure. I swore that at the corner of her eyes was a fire of determination to get into the lift no matter what. Just as her legs barely escaped the doors' clutch, everything that happened after that suddenly sped up.

'Thud, thunk, crash!'

"Uwwaaaagh!" An array of multicolor lights blinded my eyes as my head throbbed from crashing directly onto the elevator walls. The shock left me groaning as I felt a movement over my legs. Laying on the floor now, my arms reached out for the figure that was on my thighs.

"Oi, oi, get up." I struggle and pull myself up with the support of the rails. Hamano rolls backwards and although unmoving at first, she massages her neck as she slowly balance her body.

"Ah...I'm sorry about...-eh?! It's you?!" Hamano yells with her finger pointing at me. My eyes moves away as I fold my arms. Was she trying to imply that she flew into the lift without even knowing the passenger inside? "That was mean! How could you even close the door on me!" She pounds her fist on shoulder repeatedly as she said that.

"Ow ow ow ow! This is a hospital for Christ's sake." I shrugged away and stood closer to the door. Her beatings wasn't painful at all. It just felt annoying as I massaged my arm. "Besides, it's your fault for trying to outsmart the lift."

"What? To think that..." Hamano pauses for awhile. I turn around raising an eyebrow at her, as though prompting her to continue. "Hhmp. Never mind." She pouts blowing her fringe away as she turn to face the wall. I can't help but show an amused smile, facing in front again.

The lift continued on with silence after that. As the lift reached the designated floor, the door slid open as I walked out with Hamano following behind. I was about to ask her the reason for visiting the hospital, until I remembered that she had a friend that was in the same condition as Takeru staying here.

The corridor echoes with the light clicks from our footsteps as voices of the passing nurses drones from one end of my ear to the other. Just before we turn at the corner, I felt a light tug on my sleeve. Turning around, I see Hamano twirling her finger around one another drawing an invisible circle.

"What is it?" I ask, narrowing my eyes at her. Compared to her behavior at the lift, this one was a complete contrast, making her look like a shy little girl. Hamano gasped and hung her eyes downcast for awhile, before murmuring to herself. Then, she looks up and ask,

"Can we...talk for a while?"

* * *

Instead of heading to visit my friend, we ended up going down to the nearby park just behind the hospital. The sky was orange with a bit of purplish hue at the end of the horizon. I zipped up my jacket as a gust of cold wind brushed against my cheek.

By now, the park was almost empty, with an exception of patients who were strolling along the pond with the assistance of the nurses. The loud humming of the orchestrating crickets was the loudest sound that was reverberating through the air.

Vaulting over the iron bar in front, I walked towards the bench and sat down at the side. Hamano was not too far from me as she stood by the vending machine, apparently pressing the buttons for some drinks.

"Here, catch." She said, tossing over a brown can of drink. I snatched the can with ease and pulled the opener of the hot coffee. The can went 'pak' as warm steam rose from within. "This is my favorite brand of hot coffee. It tastes especially nice during temperature like this." Hamano smiles and walk over with a similar in her hand.

"Huh. Thanks." I reply dully and take a sip as the heat slowly warms my body. She's right, it tastes not bad at all. "So, what do you want to talk about?" My head turns to her as she reply with a blank face. Then, she nods and looks up to the sky.

"Being a Kamen Rider must be tough huh." She mutters out, tilting her head to the side.

"What?" Her sudden choice of topic left me surprised by a bit. I was expecting to hear something else from her, like maybe about Hikari or Rei. But then again, I should have expected a question such as this since she was part of a 'Kamen Rider' kind of club? I only remember vaguely about her talking about it before. "What's this about?"

"Well, I was thinking about your previous fights. I've never seen you unhurt from a fight against those monsters before. It sure is tough to be carrying all that burden, right?" She replies as her legs swing back and forth above the ground.

"You know, I think that it's really something admirable to be the hero idol of worship. Well, that's something Kenta would always say." Hamano breaks into her little laughter as I hear her words. "Being the hero backing up the people...don't you think that sometimes, you should have someone to look after you?"

"What's with the sudden corniness." I stared at her before looking towards the swings. A puff of white vapor formed in front of me as I breathed.

'Bzzzt'

One by one, the lamps around the park starts to light up as the sky starts to darken itself with the falling of the sun. Another cooling breeze swept past followed by the rustling of leaves.

"Anyway, why do you care?" I muttered as my finger tightened around the empty can. Although we hardly talked, I would never have guessed that Hamano would be so observant. It's true that I fight the Arcana and Suits as a Kamen Rider. But the purpose of it all was for my revenge; revenge against those that had destroyed my life and maybe...

…?!

'Crash!'

"Look out!" My body moved in reflex as I threw my body over the shocked Hamano. Whatever that just happened, the impact of the huge crash burned out a few lamps nearby. Even the one above us was beginning to flicker non-stop!

"Found you, Zero!" The deep growl called for my Rider persona as thick smoke covered the air. Luckily, Hamano was not injured at all, except for a bit of tremble through her shocked body.

"Hamano, get to somewhere safe, go!" I yelled and pushed myself up. Hamano nodded and ran off the opposite direction. I looked at my clutched fist. This feeling, no doubt it's coming from a Minor Suit!

While the smoke began to clear, my arms reached out to unzip my jacket, revealing a belt beneath the clothing. The belt buckle was almost similar to a rectangular, box shape. A semi-circle slot laid on the surface with pocket locks around the sides of the belt.

This was the newly acquired equipment; the PentaDriver.

"Alright...time to try this thing out too." I said, pulling out the Pentacle. My heart started to beat even quicker as I pushed the Pentacle into the slot. The belt buckle then lit up with a white glow. Along with it came the ancient voice.

"_**PentaDriver, Read-On!"**_ A pulsar like sound emitted from the belt. This is it. It's time to see just how powerful I could get with this!

"Henshin!"

"Thou Shalt Summon...Thy Fool!" Grey lines emerged from the belt buckle as it coursed through my body. Then, between those line materialized the set of armor as it covered my body. A burst of energy could be felt through my veins as I curled my lips into a confident smile.

Although it was a different way to transform, the suit outlook appeared the same with the '0' Numeral shining as it fit itself on the belt-buckle.

"Kamen Rider, Zero."

"I knew it!" The smoke cleared, leaving a figure that resembled a crocodile-reptile type of Minor Suit standing there. The green scaled Suit smashed its fist on its chest as it gave out a blood-curdling roar.

"Zerooo!" It called for me again as its feet stomped through the sand, charging towards me.

"Your Fate has been read!" I shouted, summoning forth the Chalister into my hand as I brought it close to my face.

'Chank!'

The refreshing burst of energy coursing through me felt incredible. My senses were heightened, along with my attack power and speed. Before the Suit's fist could even thrust forward, my Chalister intercepted it as gusts of wind pushed out from the impact.

In a blur of movement, I brought the Chalister's blade chewing onto the body of the Minor Suit continuously in a chain. Slashes after slashes, the Suit roared in pain and anger as sparks lit up behind every strike of my blade.

Although I was winning, my heart and mind felt otherwise. No, something was off when I hit the Suit. Why was it not retaliating even through so much attack? Compared to the other Minor Suits, it felt as though it was letting me win on purpose...

"Heh heh."

"...?!" I kicked back my steps as the Suit breathed out balls of flames towards me.

"Arrgh!" My body flew back with the tremendous outburst pushing me to the trees. The force of impact shook my body as I fell onto the floor. Just when I was recovering, my primal instinct acted up as I rolled to the side, seconds to being thrusts face-on by the Suits' tail.

What's with this sudden burst of power?

"I guess it is time to try this out." The Suit said as it pulled out something from its body. Focusing my eyes, the image of a medal token came into sight. "Behold, the power of my master's creation!" It yelled, chomping down the medal into its body.

"What the..." Lights poured from its eyes and mouth as orange swirls covered its body, leaving behind a figure in bright light. Then, its hands began to reach out as though to grab something...

….No way, it's a pair of Chakram!

The Suit was now painted with streaks of orange, holding on to the spiked disc as it waved dangerously in the air.

"Zero...witness this strength!"

* * *

**Author's Note: **

**Yoshhh! Squeezed almost every drip of juice onto this chapter! Well, I suppose some time is needed for me to cool down and collect thoughts before I move to the next chapter. **

**I thought that my story was moving a _little _ bit too fast so I guess I will put in some character development chapters for awhile. But not to worry, I already have the new arc in plan!**

**Uchuuuuu...Kitaaa!**


	14. Reading 14

**Kamen Rider Zero**

**Reading 14: ****Mano-a-Mano****!**

"Uwwwoooooarrgh!" The clawed feet stomped across the sand creating a mini-sand storm behind every step. Holding the pair of Chakrams in mid-air, the spike edges gleamed under the luster of the moonlight as the Reptile-Suit bulldozed its way towards the Kamen Rider. At a speed that seemingly distorts even the circular disc, the disc swung over Zero as he barely bended his back before somersaulting a few steps away.

Zero gave a 'tch' and looked away, still baffled at the turn of situation. The image of the token which the Suit held moments ago was still fresh in his head. He could only deduce that the boost of strength was from that thing which it was feeding on. If not, where on earth did it got that pair of Chakram.

And it wasn't just any normal disc. The shape and details...even the color and flair, they all looked so similar to...

"...Chariot?" Zero muttered to himself as he pulled out the wheel token. No, it was with him, so the Suit could not have took it. If that was the case, the only reasoning would be the works of...Teriuihi Ando.

"Pay attention!" The Suit yelled out with an aggressive swing which cleanly cut across the trees behind Zero; along with his head if he was a little too late to react.

'Shhaahhh!'

'Thuk, Crash!'

"Hnnngh!" Zero kicked off the sand and dodge rolled to the other side. The edge of the disc barely scrapped the surface of the Rider suit as Zero groaned. Even the attack patterns and style – it was no doubt similar to the Chariot Arcana.

"What did Teriuihi Ando create this time..." Zero muttered as his right hand secured around the Chalister hilt. "Well, they say fight fire with fire eh." He managed a smile and stood up. The Reptile creature growled and raised both its arms in front of it.

"_**Zero, Let's Riii-dde!" **_

"_**Read On, Chariot!"**_

One voice after another called out from the PentaDriver and Chalister as Zero threw in the wheel token whom once belonged to Chariot. Orange circuits traveled along the outline of his suit as the belt numeral revolved and stopped at 'VII'.

A pair of lustrous orange chakram materialized and rest on Zero's hands as he twirled them wildly before accelerating forward to the similar wielding Suit. Wild sparks and after-image light waved around the two as they moved in speed that was hard to catch with the naked human eye.

'Chank! Clunk!'

"This is it!" Zero yelled as he retreated two steps backwards and pressed the center button of the two Chakram. The blades around the circular metal roared to life, whirling loudly with a breeze of wind around them. He threw the blades up into the dark sky and charged towards the Suit.

Instinctively, the Reptile Suit raised both Chakram up in a cross. Zero gave a smirk and as the distance between them closed up, he leaped onto the Chakram held by the Suit like a piece of ground support and flew to the sky.

Two bright sparkle lit faintly in the patch of dark sky as they came whirling down onto Zero's hands, revealing the disc which he had thrown before. Finally, it was the final and decisive strike.

"Shuriken Comet!"

"Hiiaarrggghh!"

Both of them cried out as the Suit released a blinding light of its own to counter the orange flare of Zero's. The collision caused the area to light up with a pulse of tremendous shock-wave. As a result, the park that was once quiet and peaceful was now filled with cracked tiles and smoke.

Zero landed on the ground and looked around. The Suit was gone. Or rather, it must have escaped. The Rider suit broke away into tiny polygons as Kureno Hiro spat on the floor.

"What was that...?" He muttered to himself, twisting his arms to check the cuts on the surface.

* * *

After the mysterious disappearance of the Minor Suit, I decided to head back to the hospital to check Takeru awhile before going back. Checking my phone, I received a text from Hamano saying that she would head back home first because of school happening the next morning.

Takeru was still in the same status but nothing severe so far. Having talked to the doctors to confirm his safety and health records so far, I heaved a relieved sigh and decided to head back home.

The route back was a long one since the road I've usually took was under construction. Left with little choice, I had to take my bike through the housing districts as quietly as possible in order not to cause disturbances in the area.

As the stretch of yellow lights shine over me one by one, flashbacks of the encounter before replays in my head over and over again...and it would without doubt stop at the part where it revealed a piece of Token almost similar to an Arcana's.

"But why...?" My forehead narrowed as I kicked to a higher gear. It should be impossible for a Minor Suit to be holding on to a token, much less use it at all. If I'm not wrong, the consequences for such act would usually bring the Suit to its destruction instead...but it did not.

"What are you planning...Teriuihi Ando?" I asked myself as I rode quietly back home under the daunting night sky.

* * *

'Beep. Beep. Beep.'

"Argh..." I toss to the other side of my bolster as I force my eyes open to the bright morning light. The vibration from my phone continues to ruin my morning as the slight tremors it causes on the tatami mat amplifies the irritance.

Pushing my hand to the floor, my fingers taps the surrounding floor only to stop when it touches the metallic surface of my phone.

Having used the phone for close to two years now, my finger knew where to go as it automatically traced towards the 'OFF' button and pushed it down. The vibration and noise immediately cease itself.

"Ahhgg... peace at last." I give a loud yawn and rub the sleep off my eyes as I pick my body up to rest my back on the cold wall. Raising up the hand that held my phone, I scroll down to the notification and notice a new text from...

"Hamano...?" I said, giving out another yawn again. Without thinking much, I open the text as the words spreads across the display screen.

'_Morning Hiro. About the conversation yesterday, how about we meet up later to continue again? There is a place I want to show you as well...'_

My eyes then drifts along the details of the time and place to meet, before I set my phone back to 'Standby' mode. Strange...to be honest, Hamano has been acting weirdly for the past few days.

"_Being the hero backing up the people...don't you think that sometimes, you should have someone to look after you?" _

"How naive." I scoff at the thought of what she said yesterday as I stand on my feet. I can't blame her innocent thinking though. After all, she's just a teenage girl not yet exposed to the harsh reality of the world. I am fine by myself. My only purpose of existence is to remove the organization and it's core leader, that's all. Whatever happens next will be something to think about in the future.

"Huh? Why do I sound so old and negative..." I amuse myself as I read my thought out loud. Giving a long stretch, I pull my shirt up and prepare myself for a morning wash.

After the warm shower, I put on my usual outfit of Red jacket over my white tee-shirt and denim jeans before leaving the house. Taking the stairs down, I feel a sudden vibration in my left pocket. I pull out my phone to see 'Miharu Hikari' calling me.

It's something odd and rare to see in my everyday life. Even though Hikari owns a phone, the chances of her using it is close to zero. But whenever she does however, it would meant something urgent, or maybe she just need me to get something for her on the way.

"'Morning Hikari." I take the initiative to greet first right after pushing the 'Accept' button.

* * *

"Master, why did you summon me back from the fight? I would've won Zero given a few extra minutes." The Reptile scaled Suit spoke as it laid back on the cold, moldy wall of the sewers. It was its special habitat, one that it preferred a lot.

Basking under the only source of light through the grails above was the mysterious Teriuihi Ando; the sole creator of the Minor Suits. His leather shoe gleamed under the light as he playfully flipped his black cane around his wrist.

"Are you questioning my action?" Teriuihi Ando replied with a cheerful smile.

"N-no! I wouldn't dare!" The Suit stammered with fear as though it had said something terribly wrong and offensive. If it could perspire, its entire body would be soaked in cold sweat. "F-forgive me, Master!"

"Ah...no worries, no worries. How fares the little gift I've given you?" Teriuihi Ando brushes the topic aside with his own agenda. "Is your body taking in the token's power healthily?" Speaking in a very caring tone, Teriuihi Ando began to walk towards the Reptile Minor Suit.

"Of course! I can still feel the incredible power coursing through my body! Thank you, Master!"

"Ha ha...I see. Now then, I've a request."

The Reptile Suit pushed its body up and stood in attention. It felt excited as it trembled at the thought of how prestigious it was to have a request given by its own creator. Teriuihi Ando waltzed through the wet and slimy floor and then craned his head towards the Suit's ear.

"Go and have some fun now. Wreak some havoc please." Teriuihi Ando's lips curled up mischievously as his eyes narrowed down.

* * *

Hamano Itoe pulled up her cyan blue scarf as she sat at the bench just beside the school where she studied, Aoyama High School. As the days of Winter passes in Tokyo, Hamano found it harder to keep herself warm despite the many layers of clothing she wore behind that thick white coat.

"Where is that guy?..." Puffs of white vapor escaped her mouth as she glanced around for the sight of that red jacket man. Because of the conversation suddenly being interrupted yesterday by that commotion, Hamano was unable to tell that man known as Kureno Hiro what she wanted to say.

It was about the club that she was in, a topic she once brought up during their first few meetings after the event at Meiji Shrine which caused Kenta to be in a comatose state. After being with Hiro and Hikari for some time now, she wanted to show them the 'Kamen Rider Club' that both Kenta and her have built.

To be honest, Hamano had no reason to do that. Kureno Hiro was just someone she had to rely on to bring her friend back to consciousness. Other than that, she could simply put her relationship with Hiro as 'just acquaintances'.

But seeing how much Hiro had done; the hard-fought battles and injuries he had to take, Hamano though perhaps a little support from her Club could boost his morales.

She hoped.

'Ding, dong, ding, dong...'

The school bell chimed upon the 12 o'clock mark. It has been half an hour since their supposed meeting time but Hiro was still nowhere in sight. Hamano stood up and pulled out a few coins as she pushed the button of the vending machine beside her to get a can of hot coffee.

"Where is that guy..." Hamano muttered to herself again, pulling the pin of the can as it popped with hot steam rising from the content inside.

"Hiyaaaaaaaaahhhhh!" The sudden scream from the school compound of Aoyama High startled Hamano as she nearly dropped the can of coffee onto the floor. She snapped her head back and witnessed the commotion inside causing many students running for their lives.

She quickly rushed towards the scene, pulling the collar of one of the school boys running out. The boy yelped with sweat beading on his forehead.

"What happened inside?" Hamano quickly asked.

"Crocodile...lizard kind of...Monster!" He screamed, shaking off Hamano's grip as he ran off. Hamano Itoe hurriedly analyzed his words and a sudden burst of image flashed in her head, showing the appearance of the creature that Hiro fought yesterday night.

"It couldn't be..." Hamano thought that Kamen Rider Zero had finished off the creature then, but her doubt came to be true as the Reptile Suit was spotted in the center of the quadrangle, blasting fireballs on the school structure.

The Reptile Suit turned as both of them locked into eye contact.

"Hmmmm? Wait a minute, aren't you with Zero...?" The Reptile Suit asked, its clawed feet stomping towards the direction of Hamano.

"Huh? Now w-wait a minute...!" Hamano pleaded, shuffling her feet backwards to maintain the wide distance gap.

"It is you! This is my lucky day then!" The creature laughed, finally remembering Hamano's face from that night. Opening its mouth, the Reptile formed a huge ball of fire that swirled in the center.

Hamano immediately turned back and ran for her life, but her attempt failed as she tripped onto a small pebble which caused her to fall onto the snowy floor.

"This is it..." Hamano cried, burrowing her head under the cover of her arms as she prayed for Hiro to appear right now to save her. None of this would've happened if Hiro was here on time, she thought to herself. As her prayer went on, an electronic sound from the side caught her attention for a slight moment.

"_**Water On."**_

From the gaps of her elbow, Hamano's eyes caught sight of a burst of intense water directed at the Reptile creature. The fire in its mouth immediately ceased as the monster fell backwards, soaked with a puddle of water around it.

"But how?" Hamano said as she traced the source towards her right. Her eyes quickly widened as she stepped backwards in awe and shock.

Standing in front of her was a man in white-astronaut-looking suit with fine webs spread across the body. It has a white rocket-head helmet with large, orange bug-eyes resembling Zero's; and also an eyebrow looking antenna on top of each eye, pointing diagonally down in a frown.

Her eyes traced down from the head to the peculiar looking belt on his waist. It was bulky and large in size, with a lever attached at the side. On the belt was attached with four different-looking mini devices lined up from one end to the other with red flip switches in front of each one.

Hamano also noticed a piece of equipment attached on his left feet which resembled the shape of a water tap.

'Did that man just released a burst of water from that...thing?', Hamano thought in her head. She observed the man as he did something to one of the four devices on the belt, causing the water tap to vanish into thin air.

Now, the shape of the bracers on his arms and legs resembled closely to a typical gaming console buttons.

"Who are you...?" Hamano narrowed her eyes as she still felt bewildered at the sudden and unusual appearance of the rocket man. But somehow, she felt that she had saw a picture of this suit before from one of Kenta's memoirs during his exchange program with one of the schools situated in one of the cities of Japan.

"W-what is this water? Wait, who the hell are you!" The Suit stood up and pointed its claw at the Rocket man with fury. The man stood forward and raised his right arm as he brushed his palm across the side of his helmet, liking to brushing his hair, if there was any.

"Kamen Rider Fourze!" The Rocket man shouted with pride as he banged his fist twice on his left chest before pointing back at the Reptile Suit.

"Let's settle this mano-a-mano!"

* * *

**Author's Note:**

**-Heaves a sigh-**

**Finally had the time to write my new chapter and I was so excited to upload this up as soon as I was done with it! **

**Ah-ha-ha-ha! As promised, a sudden cameo appearance of one of the Riders from the original series! How was it? Did I manage to build the tension towards the climax well? Do leave a review on what you thought about this chapter below and let me know! **

**Without further ado, let us commence with the new Arc!**


	15. Reading 15

**Kamen Rider Zero**

**Reading 15: Switches – Rider – Student – Teacher**

"Kamen Rider Fourze!" The suited warrior introduced himself with gusto, pointing his finger at the Reptilian creature. "Let's settle this mano-a-mano!"

"K-kamen Rider?! Isn't there supposed to be only Zero?" The minor suit was taken aback by the abrupt entrance and introduction of the rocket man standing in front of him. Then, as though the name struck a chord, Hamano stepped backwards – covering her mouth in surprise.

"No way…you're that Kamen Rider Kenta was talking about before!" Memories of the time where Kenta showed her a picture resurfaced in her head. That day still stayed fresh in her mind as though it all happened yesterday, but in fact it was just last year when Kenta had returned from a school exchange program.

Kenta was really elated and energetic that day, constantly trying to catch her attention with a piece of photo that was on his hands. The picture portrayed a man in a suit liking that of a rocket, holding on to a banner that flapped along the air reading 'KRC'. The suit felt ridiculous in the eyes of Hamano, as though it was a cosplay-went-wrong.

"_Hey! Check this out!" _

"_Who's that white rocket man there?" _Hamano asked, breaking into a giggle at the nerdy dress up of the suit. Kenta frowned slightly, tucking the photo back into his pocket.

"_He is the one I was talking about. The one that has inspired me to create the Kamen Rider Club!" _

"_Really?" _Hamano replied sarcastically, though she knew from his eyes that he was serious and sincere about it. He always show those looks since young whenever they talked about serious subjects. Hence, she decided to entertain Kenta. _"So, what's his name?"_

"_His name is…Kamen Rider Fourze!" _

The flashback was then interrupted by the sight of Fourze clenching his fist tightly, smashing them against one another. His actions were way over the top, Hamano felt.

"High school is the pinnacle of every youths out there! I will never let you destroy their spring!" Fourze announced, pulling out two new switches and exchanging fluidly among the four attached to his belt.

"_**Fire."**_

"_**Freeze."**_

The android voice spoke through the belt as Fourze raised his fist in preparation for a match. Hamano turned her attention to the Minor Suit which stood there, mostly motionless perhaps to the shock and dumbfounded moment. Then, it shook its head to clear away any confusion cramming in its head.

"Spring? Don't make me laugh!" It replied with a menacing chuckle. Then, it started stomping towards the Kamen Rider. Fourze was prepared on his side, his left hand quickly maneuverer towards one of the switches.

"_**Hammer on!"**_

As the sound suggested, an array of colors circled the left arm of Fourze, materializing into a piece of huge hammer with red top and bottom. Hamano was more amazed then shocked at the arsenals that Fourze has been playing around with. Summoning weapons with the flick of a switch, it somehow worked similarly to Hiro's sword weapon which consumes tokens to unleash certain attacks…

"Eat this!" Fourze yelled, swinging an arc from his left as it smashes onto the face of the reptilian suit. The impact was so strong that even the Suit could hold its own ground, submitting to a devastating mid-air crash onto the snow-white ground. The Suit stood up, rubbing its claws on the surface of its face.

"You think some whack-o-hammer is gonna frighten me?" It snarled, this time infuriated by the arrogance which Fourze portrayed in its mind. Stamping through the layers of snow, the Minor Suit took a leapt into the air, both claws curled in a stance similar to a predator hunting its prey. "Raaawwwgghhhhh!"

Fourze raised his hammer arsenal without hesitation, fending off the mid-air assault. He sidestepped to the right once their blows connected, following up with a punch across the gut of the Minor Suit. The Reptilian Suit cringed a bit, pushing its distance from its enemy. Hamano could not help but smile. It was a sign of victory in Fourze's favour.

"Just a little more…" Hamano muttered to herself, keeping a safe distance from the fight. Then, the rattling motor behind her caused her to startle. She turned her head around, seeing the figure that she had been waiting for a while now. In her mind, she cursed at the thought that he could have come earlier – but then again, his delay brought forth a new Rider to her aid.

A few meters away from her stood Kureno Hiro, locking his helmet under his arms as he stared, speechless, at the ongoing fight. He paced over to Hamano, eyes stared intently on the rocket suit and the Minor Suit which he had fought yesterday.

"He's a Kamen Rider as well." Hamano answered, knowing that Hiro was as lost as she was before. Hiro briefly gave her a puzzled look before turning back to the fight. "Kamen Rider…Fourze."

"Hiyyaaa!" Fourze thrust his left arm forward, this time equipped with a scissors-like weapon. The Minor Suit twirled around, evading the move with counter-attacks at the same time.

"Time to use this!" The Minor Suit took out the piece of wheel token from its body. Hiro gasped upon the sight of that token. He knew what was going to come next. Without wasting a second, Hiro threw his helmet to Hamano, who carelessly caught it with shock.

"_**PentaDriver, Read-On!" **_The PentaDriver formed on his waist as he took out the Pentacle.

"Henshin!"

"_**Thou Shalt Summon…Thy Fool!"**_

Bathed in a circle of bright light, Kamen Rider Zero summoned the Chalister in his left hand as he charged forth into the heat of battle. By now, the Minor Suit has already called forward the pair of Chakrams, ramming the spiked edges on the defenceless Fourze.

"Arrgh!" Fourze flipped backwards onto the white floor as he pressed both hands on his injured chest. "What's with the sudden power-up!" Cursing to himself, he suddenly noticed the footsteps of another incoming figure. "Ahhh…wait! It's dang- eh?" He scrambled his body up upon witnessing the entrance of a man in monochrome armour.

"Zero! You're finally here!" The Minor Suit celebrated, turning its target towards the incoming Rider.

"_**Read- On! Chariot!"**_

The monochrome warrior was now donned in streaks of orange, carrying with him the same pair of Chakram that the Minor Suit was wielding. Yellow and orange sparks flew as both bladed edges met, their faces closed in.

"Haven't yesterday's fight showed you my prowess?" The Minor Suit sneered.

"Are you underestimating me?" Zero pushed back the disc as he chained another diagonal arc. The creature leaped back, sprinting forward without a moment of rest. Zero followed too, meeting the creature's strength on par.

However, Zero failed to secure a proper footing, causing him to be knocked back by one of its uppercut. The Rider rolled back on the blanket of snow, quickly getting back up on his feet. He felt a pat on his shoulder and Zero turned to his right, to see Fourze standing beside him.

"Are you a Kamen Rider as well?" Fourze asked in a cheery tone. Zero brushed his arms away, much to Fourze's surprise.

"Save the talk." Zero replied, standing straight.

"Heh. A tough nut to crack eh! I love challenges like these!" Fourze yelled excitedly. He pumped his chest again. "All right then, let's deal with this monster first before we introduce ourselves!"

"_**Heat On!"**_

"_**Freeze On!" **_

"_**Gyro On!" **_

Zero noticed the change of Fourze's appearance as a surging heat bathed the white body, turning the suit's colour into bright orange. The bug eyes took a greenish sparkle and on his right arm held a red gun – shaped similarly to a fire extinguisher of sorts. His leg and the other arm changed their form as well. Latched on his left leg was a freezer and on his left arm was a turquoise turbine.

"_So he could change form as well..." _Zero thought in his head, focusing his attention back at the outnumbered Minor Suit.

"Voids!" The now cornered Minor Suit summoned its minion from the ground beneath it. At least a dozen appeared as they began their attack at the two Riders. Both warriors charged into the fight as well. Zero, with his pair of Chakram, waltzed in smoothly, cutting away the minions without suffering much damage.

Fourze plummeted the Voids with blasts of wind current, followed by freezing the Voids up with the boost from the snow as they blanketed their body.

"Rider heat eruption shot!" Fourze shouted out, blasting away the remaining Voids into charred ashes.

"Ehh…? What nonsense is this?" The Suit panicked, retreating its steps. Before it knew, a whirling sound from above caught the shocked Reptilian monster.

"Now I've got you. Shuriken Comet!" Zero yelled out, volleying the pair of Chakram onto the Minor suit, finally destroying it successfully. Embers left in the aftermath of the Minor Suit, Zero released the Rider suit off his body, turning him back to Kureno Hiro once more. He calmly walked over to the ground which the Minor Suit stood, his eyes darting from one corner to another as though finding an answer. He smiled, finally finding what he wanted.

Carefully reaching out his arms, his fingers stretched to grab hold of the piece of wheel token which the Minor Suit was using before. However, it seems like the creator of these items have already a fail-safe plan for it, should the user be obliterated.

'Crack. Pssshh.'

The token shattered into pieces, scattered in the wind as soon as Hiro touched its surface.

"Dammit." Hiro clenched his teeth upon his act of folly. He cursed to himself for a moment, before standing back up again patting away the ashes clinging to his jacket.

"Hey! You there!" Hiro recognized that voice but he refused to turn. Soon, he could hear the nearing footsteps that came with the continuous call to him. Appearing in front of him was not the suit of the Kamen Rider Fourze, but instead, a man dressed in a brown uniform with a weird taste for pompadour as his hairstyle. His face was all cheery that Hiro found it unbelievable to comprehend that this was the guy behind that suit.

"We haven't really introduced each other yet!" The youthful man announced, stretching out his arms to greet him. Hiro returned a look of annoyance, before pushing away his hands rudely with his forearm. But it felt like the pompadour man had already anticipated this as he quickly grabbed Hiro's hands with his other, followed by doing a series of fist pumps which Hiro found it uncomfortable to follow.

"There! My name is Kisaragi Gentaro! Also known as Kamen Rider Fourze!" Gentaro smiled widely, brushing his hands across his sleek pompadour. This time, Hamano caught up to them as she witnessed the two men's interaction.

"Kureno Hiro. Hamano," Ignoring Gentaro's presence, Hiro turned to the startled schoolgirl. "Did you ask me here to meet this guy?"

"Huh?...Ahh…No.." Hamano promptly replied. "Actually, this wasn't the kind of situation I was expecting for our meet-up…" She tried to laugh it off, remembering the reason why she was here in the first place. Then, her hands were soon grabbed firmly by Gentaro suddenly.

"Hamano huh. I'm Kisaragi Gentaro! Pleased to meet you too!" The loud behaviour of his took Hamano off guard. She has never met anyone that extreme before, and Gentaro was definitely the first.

"Ahh…nice to meet you-"

"Wait! I've completely forgotten about something important!" Gentaro cried out, knocking his head repeatedly, scaring Hamano a little by his reaction. "I have something to do urgently...but I believe that we will meet each other pretty soon!" He turned his back, dashing off as his words slowly dwindled down. "See ya again!"

A cold wind howled and caressed Hamano's cheeks as she pulled up her scarf again.

"Ha ha…he's a weird one…" Hamano laughed, but realized that Hiro was already on his way back to his bike. "Hey wait! We haven't talk yet!"

Hiro paused his steps and turned around. "What's there to talk about?"

"Why you…" Hamano choked at his reply. "Then why did you even come here?"

"The Wand was acting up strangely so I followed it here. Anyway," Hiro said while putting on his helmet. "If there's nothing else, I'll be going first." He revved up the Lone wolf and sped away, leaving Hamano alone in the snowy field in front of the now-peaceful school gate.

* * *

Back at Café 109, Hamano blew her fringe up as she rest her head on the mahogany table. A planned meeting went wrong, Hamano decided that it was impossible to understand the mind of Kureno Hiro. Just yesterday, she was so close to opening up Hiro but today's conversation just felt like it was all a wishful thinking on her part. She turned to face Rei, who was studying the screen of her laptop with a cup of coffee in hand.

"Rei, can I ask you something?" Hamano sat up properly, her arms folded on the table.

"Shoot." Without diverting her attention, Rei replied while scrolling the mouse pad of her notebook. She took a sip and relieved a pleasant sigh. "What's bothering you?"

"Is Kureno Hiro always like this? I mean, locking himself away from everyone."

"How long have you guys known each other?" Rei asked, this time closing the lid of her note book. Hamano pondered on her question as she tried to remember their first encounter.

"Erm…we actually talked at the Hospital for starters…maybe a month or two now?"

Rei scoffed at the answer, placing the cup on the table. Hamano knew the reason why. Compared to Hikari and Rei, the time spent between Hiro and her actually striking a conversation was close to rare and if she were to calculate the total amount of time spent between them, it was less than a week.

"Well, you can't blame Hiro for being like that." Rei said.

"Did something…happened to him before?" Hamano asked, curious by the second as she wanted to understand the man behind Kamen Rider Zero more clearly.

"I believe that Hikari must've told you a thing or two about our Organization now." Rei raised her hand to get the attention of one of the patrolling waiters as she asked for another cup of Blue Mountain.

"Yes. The 'Revolution' and also the death of Hiro's partner, right?"

Rei nodded slightly, and Hamano thought she could see a slight grin on her lips. "That's one way to put it." The Blue Mountain ordered by Rei was finally served on her table as she thanked the waiter. There was a moment of silence as Hamano observed the milk and sugar that was poured into the coffee by Rei. Stirring the cup of hot coffee gently, Rei placed the stirrer by the side and took a sip.

"Does Hiro-chan ever mentioned anything to you at all?" Rei asked Hamano, who was snapped out from gazing intently at the cup. Hamano shook her head from side to side, slightly embarrassed upon realizing that she had overlooked that part of Hiro as well. She knew nothing about Hiro at all if not for the enlightenment from Hikari. Hamano felt even more lost for words upon that thought.

"Give him some time. Hiro-chan may look the sort that's always quiet and such, but you must understand that it takes time to heal the wounds inflicted on him."

"_Wounds?" _ Hamano wanted to ask more about it but held that thought as she realized even Rei was narrowing her forehead talking about it. For now, Hamano decided to listen to Rei's advice. She hoped that it would be a matter of time before she could understand that masked figure's thinking.

* * *

School started as usual the next morning. It seems that everyone had forgotten about the terrifying experience yesterday which involved the appearance of a crocodile monster rampaging the quadrangle. However, the fact that it was cold remained in everyone's mind as they wore thick clothing while entering the school compound. Some were chattering and laughing loudly, traveling in groups as they discussed about their daily activities and fresh gossips.

Hamano Itoe walked into the school, deep in thought over yesterday's conversation with Rei. Usually, if not for Kenta's coma, she would have walked to school with Kenta beside her, running on and on about his love for the Kamen Riders.

While she was climbing up the stairs towards the third floor, she could not help but heard the discussion about an unusual figure in school. It came from the group in front of her as Hamano slowed down her pace to get a better scope of eavesdropping.

"Hey, have you heard about that new teacher?" The guy with a taller frame than the rest spoke.

"Oh right! That weird yankee dude right?" The guy next to him spoke, apparently mocking the said figure's sense of fashion. The girls with them giggled as well.

"But then again, he looked quite cute! I wish he will be our new teacher though…" The group turned into their class as the conversation was cut away from Hamano while she entered the classroom that was two doors down the corridor.

Finding her seat, Hamano sat down and prepared her pencil case and the work assignments given to them last week. While she was about to take a breather, the whole class stood upon the arrival of their school principal. Hamano wondered if the class did something wrong to have the Principal visit them.

"Class, I understand that currently your homeroom teacher has applied for a maternity leave and will only be back in two weeks' time. Therefore, we have a relief teacher here for the time being. Do note that he has only been transferred here from Amanogawa High School just yesterday. So, please treat him with the same respect as you give to the other teachers here."

"A transfer teacher…?" Hamano thought back to the conversation that happened just a while ago. Could he be that new person that has been so hyped out by everyone?

"Mr. Kisaragi, please come in."

While Hamano was pondering over how a yankee-looking teacher would look like, the name which the Principal spoke stole her attention immediately. 'Kisaragi'…that name was familiar to Hamano. But from where…?

Then, from behind the door emerged a figure which sparked the entire class' attention. Chatters sparked while some giggled upon seeing the transfer teacher. Only Hamano stood there, mouth gaped open upon seeing him.

"Kisaragi…yankee…and that weird hair…" Hamano said to herself, not believing her eyes.

Standing in front of them stood a teacher dressed in milky brown uniform, though not as professional as what the other teachers would wear. His hair fashioned a weird pompadour that only Hamano knew more clearly among the others in the class.

He took a chalk and began to apply heavy brush strokes across the chalk board that even the Principal was coughing from the dust coming from him.

"Hello everybody. I'm Mr. Kisaragi. Kisaragi Gentaro to be exact!" After which, the man brushed both hands back against the sleek and shiny pompadour hair, followed by two chest pumps before pointing at the entire class with a wide grin on his face.

"And my mission is to make friends with every one of you here!"

…

"Ehhhhh?!" The entire class shouted in unison.

"What…?" Hamano was in a state of loss.

* * *

**Author's Note: **

**Finally after a whole of unexpected Hiatus, I'm back to the 'Story board' (Typing board to be correct)! If you have saw my profile, you would see that my laptop was recently under repair due to a sudden crash. As a result, my files were all gone…including my chapters and research materials! T.T **

**I do hope that my readers are still here to stay and support me though and I thank you guys for the patience! And I do hope that this chapter managed to spark some nostalgia in the hearts of the Fourze fans! I hope that I have portrayed his image correctly too! Do leave your comments under the review section and let me know what you think of this chapter! I'll stop here for now!**


End file.
